Scientists tout diamond dust, a $200 trillion solution, to cool down Earth

Diamonds to the rescue! A girl's best friend can also save the planet from overheating caused by climate change. A team of climatologists, meteorologists, and Earth scientists suggests that even though it might seem odd, this might become a reality someday.

The researchers explored the potential of diamond dust that can be released from an aeroplane into the atmosphere as a potential solution to reverse global warming.

Earth is heating up and experts suggest it might have already reached a point of no return. Drastic measures need to be taken to dramatically cool down the planet and simply curbing greenhouse gas emissions might not help.

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Scientists worldwide agree that injecting aerosols into the atmosphere can help solve the problem as it can reflect sunlight and excess heat back into space. Sulfur dioxide, which naturally occurs in the atmosphere from volcanic eruptions, has been the frontrunner in this race.

However, it comes with its side effects and can cause acid rain across the world, damage the ozone layer, and also cause unpredictable weather changes in the lower atmosphere.

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So they were forced to look for other viable options. Experts conducted a study in the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich where they created a 3D climate model to know the impacts of different types of aerosols.

They evaluated their interaction with light and heat, their longevity in the air, their potential to group together, and how they would eventually fall back to Earth.

Diamonds can save the planet, but will prove costly

They found seven candidates that could solve the problem - calcite, diamond, aluminium, silicon carbide, anatase, rutile, and sulfur dioxide, were put to the test. Diamond dust emerged as the surprising winner.

Diamond dust was found to reflect the most light and heat in the experiment. The dust could also remain aloft for suitable lengths of time and was less likely to clump together to retain heat.

The added bonus was that it would not create acid rain because itis chemically inert.

However, considering it is diamonds, the solution comes with a huge price tag. The model recommends that Earth can be cooled down by approximately 1.6°C in 45 years if about five million tonnes of synthetic diamond dust is injected into the atmosphere every year. This exercise would cost a whopping $200 trillion.

The process also has significant technological and logistical challenges. Current manufacturing technologies and infrastructure are not apt for the scenario and need to advance manifold to create and synthesise the diamond dust on such a massive scale.

To deploy the diamond dust every year means having a specialised aircraft or spacecraft to release the particles at the requisite altitude globally.