Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA are exploring a new idea to cool the planet by reducing water vapor in the upper atmosphere

The idea is to inject ice particles into the upper atmosphere, about 11 miles (17 kilometers) high. The ice and cold air would rise to the coldest part of the atmosphere, where water vapor would turn to ice and fall. This would dehydrate the stratosphere. 

Water vapor is a natural greenhouse gas that traps heat, similar to carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Researchers believe that reducing water vapor could counteract a small amount of human-caused warming. 

However, the idea is still in the early stages of research and is not currently implementable. According to Joshua Schwarz, a NOAA physicist, the idea is about exploring what might be possible in the future and identifying research directions. 

Government scientists propose injecting ice high in the upper atmosphere to reduce water vapor, a greenhouse gas, as a potential method to counteract human-caused warming. However, the idea is still in the early stages of research and not currently implementable

Water vapour — water in its gas form — is a natural greenhouse gas that traps heat, just like carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas. So, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA figure if they can just inject ice high up in the air, water vapour in the upper atmosphere would get a bit drier and that could counteract a small amount of the human-caused warmth

The idea of drying the upper atmosphere is the newest addition to what some scientists are calling a last-ditch toolbox to deal with climate change by manipulating the world’s atmosphere or oceans. Known as geoengineering, it’s often rejected because of potential side effects, and is usually mentioned not as an alternative to reducing carbon pollution, but in addition to emission cuts.

“This isn’t something that we can even implement right now,” said Joshua Schwarz, a NOAA physicist who is lead author of a study in Wednesday’s journal Science Advances. “This is about exploring what might be possible in the future and identifying research directions.”

Schwarz is not quite sure about what side effects could occur, and that’s the problem, other scientists said.

Purposely tinkering with Earth’s atmosphere to fix climate change is likely to create cascading new problems, said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver, who wasn’t part of the study. He said the engineering side of this makes sense, but he compared the concept to a children’s story where a king who loves cheese is overrun with mice, gets cats to deal with the mice, then dogs to chase away the cats, lions to get rid of the dogs and elephants to eliminate the lions and then goes back to mice to scare off the elephants.

The idea of drying the upper atmosphere is the newest addition to what some scientists are calling a last-ditch toolbox to deal with climate change by manipulating the world’s atmosphere or oceans. Known as geoengineering, it’s often rejected because of potential side effects, and is usually mentioned not as an alternative to reducing carbon pollution, but in addition to emission cuts.
     “This isn’t something that we can even implement right now,” said Joshua Schwarz, a NOAA physicist who is lead author of a study in Wednesday’s journal Science Advances. “This is about exploring what might be possible in the future and identifying research directions.”
     The way it would conceivably work is that high-tech planes could inject ice particles about 11 miles (17 kilometers) high, just below the stratosphere, where the air slowly rises. Then the ice and cold air rise to where it’s coldest and gets the water vapor

the UN environment assembly, nations are considering a resolution to study solar radiation modification – essentially putting particles in the air to reflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere – and possible regulations on countries or companies that would do it.
     “If you’re going to do lab experiments indoors, maybe that’s all right,” UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen told The Associated Press. “But we do believe, from a UNEP perspective, that the moment we step outdoors and we begin to do small- and large-scale experimentation outdoors we need actually need to have a global conversation.”

 “I do think that solar radiation modification is a little bit like artificial intelligence,” Andersen said. “Once a genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put it back in. It’s a technology that is there. We do not think in any way shape or form that it should be considered as a climate solution.” (AP) PY
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According to the Royal Society, it would take thousands of years for the Earth’s surface temperature to return to pre-industrial levels even if greenhouse gas emissions were to suddenly stop

According to Nature, global temperatures are likely to increase by 2–3°C by 2200–2300 AD, and then enter a cooling phase that could last up to 100,000 years. 

Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere. It increases as the Earth’s atmosphere warms, but unlike carbon dioxide, which can remain in the atmosphere for centuries, water vapor persists for a few days

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