1. Spray It Away
The Idea: Remember how we all had to stop spraying ozone-depleting aerosols into the atmosphere? Maybe it's time to re-think that.
A proposal known as stratospheric aerosol insertion suggests that chemicals — sulfur dioxide, in this case — sprayed into the Earth's nearest atmospheric levels could bind with other chemicals to reflect sunlight from the Earth. Helium balloons or high-flying planes could disperse the sulfur dioxide. The gas would oxidize and reflect back some (but not all) of the sunlight that would otherwise hit the planet's surface. Less sunlight hitting the surface means a cooler earth.
The sulfur would be cheap; it's a common industrial pollutant. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, one kilogram of the stuff could offset the effect of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of carbon dioxide.
Potential Problems: It could end up working too well, causing catastrophic weather changes in certain areas (such as sudden droughts). One scientist proposed trying it over the Arctic first, just in case things got a little too chilly.
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