Reports inflate N.M. global-warming test

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - New Mexico's stratosphere may soon be the test-bed for an experiment to test a controversial proposal to combat global warming. It's called solar geoengineering.

Harvard physicist David Keith says to halt global warming mankind may someday need to simulate the effects of giant volcanoes and pump man-made sulfate particles into the stratosphere.

There the particles could combine with water particles and reflect back into space some of the radiation from the sun.

Large volcanoes have regularly lowered global temperatures throughout history with their eruptions and massive injections into the upper atmosphere.

Dr. Keith told the New York Times that he and a colleague, atmospheric chemist James Anderson, are drafting a proposal to fly a solar geoengineering experiment into the stratosphere.

The experiment would launch from the NASA scientific balloon center at Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. If funding is approved, the flight could take place within a year.

Keith says other media reports citing a plan to release 'tons' of material over New Mexico are grossly in error. He told the Times that only a small sample would be released in his experiment, just to test the theory of solar geoengineering.

Critics worry that if the concept works it could derail other efforts to fight global warming and ultimately have unknown consequences on the environment.

In previous published remarks, Keith said he shares the concern about potentially harming the long-term battle against global warming. He said he also feels that solar geoengineering is not a panacea.

For those who worry that solar geoengineering could be employed as a solitary tool to combat global warming, Keith said he doesn't see dumping more and more chemicals into the stratosphere as the way to reduce ever-increasing temperatures.

"I don't think anybody takes that seriously," said Keith. "Nobody but maybe only one or two very odd folks really suggest this."

Keith said solar geoengineering would only be appropriate as a short-term solution to perhaps someday protect polar regions from melting too much and flooding coastal cities around the globe.