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Daily Mirror
16-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mirror
Warning as Vladimir Putin could attack Britain - using unique doomsday tactic
Defence experts have issued a warning to govenment officials over fears that Vladimir Putin could use dangerous sun-blocking technology to orchestrate a deadly attack Brits have been warned that Russia could launch a nightmare attack against the country by using high-tech doomsday equipment to block the sun. Defence experts have stressed that Vladimir Putin could use geoengineering to transform weather systems and disrupt the UK. It has been reported that officials have been warned about the risks of an 'independent or third-party actor' performing the strike. If such an attack was to happen, the health of humans and wildlife would be severely impacted. The economic impact to industries such as farming would be huge as crops would also die and solar power plants would be useless. What is solar geoengineering? Solar geoengineering is the study of how to manipulate of the amount of radiation reaching the Earth from the sun. One method of enacting a dimming of the rays coming from the sun can be to fire aerosols into the atmosphere. The aerosols would react in the atmosphere and block energy from the sun, reflecting it back into space. The Telegraph reports that Kerry McCarthy, the climate minister, wrote in a letter: 'The UK is a longstanding leader on climate action and an active international collaborator in scientific research. The Government recognises the need to understand the risks and impacts of [solar radiation modification] approaches that could be deployed by an independent or third-party actor. Robust scientific evidence is essential for informing responsible and inclusive governance.' Sun dimming is being studied widely across the world at present as scientists look at the idea as a way to tackle climate change, global temperature rises and diminishing ice levels in the poles. In Britain, the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency (ARIA) is a government backed body whith more than £60m of funding to look into the technology. What have experts said? But aside from the environmetal study of sun dimming, or Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) as it is known, defence expert Matt Ince, from Dragonfly Intelligence, told the Telegraph hostile powers around the world may also be seeking to exploit SRM to use against the UK. Mr Ince said: 'In a context where we've had, for example, Russia increasingly expanding its use of hybrid warfare activities, it's possible – not immediately, but down the line – that they may look to broaden and diversify the types of activities that they're conducting, to include more novel types of activity of which solar geoengineering may be one. 'Not least because of its relative affordability and the feasibility of conducting it, but also because it would allow a relative degree of plausible deniability. We've seen migration patterns being intentionally influenced by the Russian state as a way of trying to push more pressure on to European countries.' Mr Ince added that 'some sort of intentionally orchestrated environmental disaster' is an 'avenue that Russia may pursue'. More than 550 concerned academics recently penned an open letter to the calling for SRM use to be globally controlled. The letter added: "Without effective global and democratic controls, the geopolitics of possible unilateral deployment of solar geoengineering would be frightening and inequitable." And Dan Marks, a research fellow in energy security at the Royal United Services Institute, told the Telegraph there were questions about what could be done if a country did deploy SRM in a hostile way. He added: "If a country decided to deploy that kind of technology, then there is a real question of how do you treat that legally? How do you treat it diplomatically?" Lt Gen Richard Nugee, the former Ministry of Defence non-executive director for climate change and sustainability, said SRM had not been "weaponised" yet and there could be "too may variables" for it to have "guaranteed output". An Aria spokesman said: 'In line with the Government's position on SRM deployment, Aria is not funding deployment, and does not support, the deployment of any climate cooling approaches.' A Government spokesman said: 'The government is not in favour of using solar radiation modification, but we support cautious, controlled research aimed at improving our understanding of its risks and impacts. The Government supports Aria's mission to fund high-risk, high-reward transformational research programmes with long-term benefits.'
Metro
08-05-2025
- Science
- Metro
UK plans to 'dim the sun' gets £57,000,000 funding - but what's the point
The process of 'dimming the sun' sounds like something from a dystopian film but this could be reality soon. A government backed body called the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency (ARIA) is funding £57million for it. But what is dimming the sun and what is the point of it? We take a look below. Dimming the sun, is known in scientific terms as Solar Radiation Modification (SRM), and is the process of reflecting the sun back into the atmosphere. Some scientists hope this will temporarily limit rising temperatures on Earth. One potential way of doing this is spraying a fine mist of natural sea water into the atmosphere from a coastal location in the UK. This they hope would brighten existing cloud and increase the reflectivity. Another technique would be to take sulfate aerosols into a weather balloon, release them into the stratosphere, which then scatter sunlight back into space. Professor Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage at the University of Edinburgh, has welcomed the research. He said: 'Humans are losing the battle against climate change. Engineering cooling is necessary because in spite of measurements and meetings and international treaties during the past 70 years, the annual emissions of greenhouse gases have continued to increase. 'The world is heading towards heating greater than any time in our civilisation. 'Many natural processes are reaching a tipping point, where the earth may jump into a different pattern of behaviour.' The whole point of something like this is the fact that are world is getting hotter. In 2024, global average temperatures were running at 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels. By the end of the 2030s, this picture only gets worse, with current trajectories showing the world passing 1.5°C of long-term warming. But critics are worried about the impact this will have on human health and on our weather systems, such as the warming of polar regions and increased rainfall. More Trending The ARIA has said 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'. One of those worried is Raymond Pierrehumbert, Professor of Planetary Physics at Oxford University, who said: '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. 'Now the UK is pouring nearly £70 million into this and opening the door to outside experimentation, then that's just going to open the floodgates to other countries that may have fewer controls.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Could the conflict between India and Pakistan lead to nuclear war? MORE: Met Office gives verdict on bank holiday weather after record warm start to May MORE: Enjoy the warmth while you can – it's fizzling out just in time for the bank holiday
