Scientists are going to great lengths to think up solutions to the problem of global warming. Bill Gates, the billionaire owner of Microsoft, has hatched what might seem on the surface to be a rather hair-brained scheme: to “dim the Sun” in order to slow the effects of climate change. While Gates will not go ahead with his idea of launching thousands of pounds of chalk into the stratosphere, he will be funding a research project being undertaken by a group of Harvard scientists. The plan to launch a weather balloon from the town of Kiruna, Sweden carrying about two kilograms/five pounds of chalk. The chalk will be released into the sky to test the viability of chalk dust in helping mitigate the increase in world temperatures that we have seen in the last several decades.

The test will cost about $3 million, though it is being funded by Gates and his vast wealth. The thinking behind the project is that perhaps the chalk will be able to deflect some of the sunlight that is being trapped by the earth’s greenhouse gasses, leading to global warming. Experts fear that releasing large amounts of chalk into the atmosphere could lead to long-term damage to weather patterns and the climate. So, when the 1300 pound balloon releases its payload 12 miles above the earth, the research team will be monitoring to see if there are any adverse effects from the chalk. If there are then there will be no further large-scale testing. The project’s director is named Frank Keutsch. He is terrified by the idea that something like a weather balloon full of chalk would be necessary in order to solve a problem like global warming. He believes that climate change is such a serious, existential threat to humanity that drastic measures might need to be taken. He is not confident in the accuracy of current computer models regarding the chalk theory, so he is hoping for much more accurate data from the balloon experiment itself. He thinks that current computer models are “too optimistic” at the moment, though it is anyone’s guess what the actual results of the experiment will be.

Expert opinion on the experiment is split. Some are optimistic that the chalk will succeed in reflecting some of the sun’s rays, leading to an overall reduction in global temperatures. Others are not so optimistic. They argue that a solution like the one Gates and the Harvard team are proposing does not address the root causes of climate change, chief among them the overreliance of humanity on fossil fuels. A professor from the University of Edinburgh named Stuart Haszeldine compared the chalk theory to taking heroin. If we keep on using fossil fuels while trying to cool the planet through chalk, then we will be stuck in a perpetual cycle of cooling and warming. The effectiveness of the experiment remains to be seen, though the launch of the balloon in Sweden is slated to take place by the end of the summer.