WEBVTT - What is a stratospheric aerosol?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from house stuff works dot com

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<v Speaker 1>where smart happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question,

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<v Speaker 1>what is a stratospheric aerosol? Scientific evidence indicates that the

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<v Speaker 1>Earth is getting warmer because greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

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<v Speaker 1>trap more of the Sun's heat. For example, human consumption

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<v Speaker 1>of fossil fuels releases billions of pounds of carbon dioxide

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<v Speaker 1>gas into the atmosphere every day, and a wide variety

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<v Speaker 1>of natural processes create methane. Both of these gases trap heat.

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<v Speaker 1>If we could somehow block or reflect away some of

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<v Speaker 1>the unlight reaching Earth, it would cool the planet down.

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<v Speaker 1>One way to block or reflect sunlight is to load

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<v Speaker 1>the stratosphere with particles or sulfur chemicals like sulfur dioxide.

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<v Speaker 1>We know this would work because large volcanic eruptions, which

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<v Speaker 1>inject dust and sulfur into the stratosphere have a noticeable

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<v Speaker 1>cooling effect on the entire planet. This stratosphere starts about

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<v Speaker 1>six miles above the Earth's surface, and commercial jets regularly

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<v Speaker 1>fly at this altitude, So one idea that's been proposed

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<v Speaker 1>is to use jets or high altitude balloons to create

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<v Speaker 1>man made reflective stratospheric aerosols. We could release large quantities

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<v Speaker 1>of sulfur dioxide or hydrogen sulfide gas directly into the stratosphere.

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<v Speaker 1>There are three advantages to this approach. First, we know

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<v Speaker 1>it would work. Volcanoes show us the way. Second, we

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<v Speaker 1>could get started very quickly. There are no technological hurdles. Third,

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<v Speaker 1>it's easy to turn it off. We simply stop injecting

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<v Speaker 1>the chemicals and in a year or two they'll dissipate naturally.

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