EPA Publishes New Online Resources on Contrails and Geoengineering

Geoengineering companies like Make Sunsets hope to mimic the climate-cooling effects of volcanic eruptions like Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in June 1991, whose plume of aerosols is thought to have temporarily lowered global temperatures by half a degree Celsius. Photo: Getty Images

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released new online resources explaining aircraft contrails and geoengineering, as interest in, and misinformation about, climate intervention technologies continues to grow.

There are no binding global agreements on solar geoengineering, though experts warn coordinated global planning and monitoring should be a part of any proposed solution. Photo: AP

The EPA said the materials are intended to address persistent conspiracy theories around so-called «chemtrails» and to clarify the scientific difference between ordinary condensation trails from aircraft and speculative climate technologies such as solar geoengineering. The agency stressed that contrails are simply ice crystals formed from aircraft exhaust and are not evidence of chemical spraying.

Beyond using particles, some scientists have proposed deploying huge mirrors to space to reflect away some of the sun’s light before it hits the Earth. Photo: SPL

The move comes amid renewed debate over solar geoengineering, a controversial field of climate research that explores ways to reflect a small portion of sunlight back into space to slow global warming. While some start-ups and research bodies are pursuing experimental approaches, critics warn the technology is unproven, risky and could distract from reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Private companies are the wrong institutions to carry out geoengineering, according to critics, because they are drive by a profit-motive in addition to concerns for the public wellbeing. Photo: iStock/ Getty Images

The EPA said it does not support or conduct geoengineering deployment and that no large-scale atmospheric modification programmes are currently authorised in the United States.

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