Experiments to 'dim the sun' one step closer in the UK
SRM techniques which try to mimic the natural cooling that occurs after the eruption of volcanoes releasing ash and gases, is one of the most controversial.
ARIA programme director Mark Symes said "there is a critical missing gap in our knowledge on the feasibility and impacts of SRM and to fill that gap requires real-world outdoor experiments".
The agency announced on Wednesday it will fund five projects that could lead to these real-world experiments.
These include thickening Arctic sea ice to make it more reflective, Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) and Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), both intended to add material into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight.
Outdoor experiments could take place as soon as this winter.
They will also fund a modelling based project that would investigate mirrors or shades deployed into space.
One proposed MCB experiment is to spray a fine mist of natural sea water into the atmosphere from a coastal location in the UK.
The hope is that it would brighten existing cloud and increase its reflectivity.
Another funded SAI project could involve adding a small amount of natural mineral dust high into the atmosphere from a weather balloon in either the UK or US.
ARIA stress that "before any outdoor experiment takes place there will be a full and transparent public consultation with necessary environmental assessments taken place".
And any outdoor experimentation "will only occur after robust oversight measures which won't include the release of any toxic materials".
But Raymond Pierrehumbert, Professor of Planetary Physics at Oxford University is "extremely worried" about SRM.
"People want a Plan B if we don't reduce global emissions. But there really is no Plan B, it just kicks the can down the road because [solar geo-engineering] doesn't take away the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere".
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