Scientists plan to suck out water from Earth's atmosphere to fight climate change

In a never-heard climate intervention strategy, scientists are now planning to decrease the amount of water vapour present in the stratosphere. This, they think can be carried out by injecting the layer of atmosphere with ice-forming nuclei.

According to scientists, if the water content is reduced, more heat - in the form of infrared radiation - will leak out into space.

The strategy being explored by the scientists was mentioned in a study published in Science Advances.

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Even though greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are the important factors drivinghuman-caused climate change, water vapour is considered the most common greenhouse gas.

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Hence, the removal of water vapour from the atmosphere will help mitigate climate change, as per the study.

How does dehydration of stratosphere help fight climate change?

The study was carried out by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). According to the study, scientists suggest trying out "intentional stratospheric dehydration."

As per the study lead author Joshua Schwarz, who is also a research physicist at NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, this process will be carried out by seeding small particles, known as ice nuclei,into the stratosphere with the help of high-altitude planes.

Schwarz said that if such seeds can be added to the stratosphere, then some of the water vapour is likely to condense in ice and fall, which will eventually remove excess water vapour and dehydrate the stratosphere.

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According to the study, the strategy can plausibly work after the experts have overcome several technical barriers. Schwarz said that right now, "we don't have a plan or the technology to do this".

He further said that it will not counteract the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) and added that it will only cool the atmosphere 1/70th which is equal to the amount of warmth being given by CO2. It will only be "a very small shift in the other direction".

He added that CO2 becomes a huge problem in our atmosphere and that the new method will have a small impact, in comparison to CO2.

(With inputs from agencies)