Unintentional Geoengineering: Whitening Skies and Changing Solar Radiation - Fall 2015

Explore the intriguing phenomenon of global "dimming" and "brightening" in this 40-minute AGU Fall Meeting 2015 press conference. Delve into new data suggesting an additional mechanism affecting solar radiation reaching Earth's surface, beyond known pollution patterns. Examine the provocative analysis pointing to an unintentional geoengineering experiment as a likely cause for the whitening of global cloud-free skies. Learn from experts Charles Long and Martin Wild as they discuss the energy balance of the global climate system, asymmetric hemispheric pollution and warming, cloud formation, and shortwave radiation components. Investigate the clues behind sky color and particle light scattering, leading to a hypothesis about clear sky whitening and its potential implications for our planet's climate.

Intro
Energy Balance of the Global Climate System
Asymmetric hemispheric pollution
Asymmetric hemispheric warming
What is a Cloud?
Shortwave Radiation Components
US Clear-Sky Brightening
Clear-Sky SW Components
Clue 1: Why is the sky blue and a cloud white?
Clue 2: How particles scatter light
Clear sky Whitening
The Hypothesis