Scientists to Remove Water from Earth atmosphere to Fight climate change

Scientists plan to remove water from the atmosphere of Earth, stratosphere to deal with climate change. This is a unique approach by which scientists plan to reduce the amount of water vapor in the stratosphere.

Scientists believe that infusing ice-forming nuclei into the atmospheric layer, stratosphere will help fight climate change. According to them, reducing the water content causes more heat to flow into space in infrared radiation form.

A study published in Science Advances mentioned the current method of scientists. However, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are major contributors to human-caused climate change. Hence, water vapor is regarded as the most frequent greenhouse gas.

As a result, the study concludes that removing water vapor from the atmosphere will help to prevent climate change. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials conducted this research study.

According to this study, scientists plan to remove water and propose experimenting with intentional stratospheric dehydration. Joshua Schwaz is the lead study author of this research. He is also a research physicist at NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

Click here to read updates on Scientists plan to cool Earth by blocking rays from the Sun

Joshua also stated the procedure of dehydrated stratosphere would be carried out by seeding microscopic particles, known as ice nuclei, into the stratosphere using high-altitude planes.

He believes adding these seeds to the stratosphere might cause water vapor to freeze and fall. Hence, it would finally remove extra water vapor and dry out the stratosphere.

This study method will work once the experts have solved many technological challenges. Joshua stated they still don’t have a plan or the technology to do this. It will not counterbalance the effects of carbon dioxide and will only cool the atmosphere by 1/70th, equivalent to the amount of warmth provided by CO2.

Hence, Joshua said it would be only a small shift in the other direction. CO2 is a major issue in our atmosphere. The new technology will have a minor influence in contrast to CO2.