You didn’t know this about diamonds. They can save the Earth
Diamonds may not be eternal, contrary to what pop culture teaches us, but they have many different uses. Scientists have just identified another one of them, which is literally a cosmic idea.
How to protect the Earth from human-caused global warming? Well, the tips are pretty obvious – it is best for us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But a team of scientists, led by climate scientist Sandro Vattoni from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, decided to look for another path.
Competition, i.e. sulfur dioxide
Researchers performed calculations on the materials that would be most suitable for global stratospheric aerosol cooling (SAI). Application? The problem would probably be solved by a cloud of diamond nanoparticles worth a total of several hundred trillion dollars! But in theory it is a solution. Interestingly, it is also useful for space exploration.
For decades, scientists have wondered whether muddying the atmosphere with light-reflecting particles could cast enough shadow to counteract the warming effects of excess greenhouse gases. One candidate was sulfur dioxide. Unfortunately, despite its effectiveness, the result would also be ozone depletion, stratospheric warming and acid rain.
Beautiful theory, worse in practice
Recent research by Swiss scientists has shown that due to the physical properties of this substance it would be a bad choice as a reflective material. This was demonstrated in an analysis that took into account the movements, thermodynamics and chemistry of seven aerosols that could hypothetically help us with global warming. This study evaluated candidates for heat absorption, reactivity and reflectance. It was these measurements that pointed to diamond particles instead.
Not only would each molecule stay in the air long enough to do adequate work, but it would also not stick together or react to create toxic substances like acid rain. As sciencealert.com points out, the problem is its price: $600,000 per megaton of diamond dust. This clearly indicates that although the use of such aerosols is possible in theory, in practice it is currently unfeasible for us and However, we must return to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
