Scientists studying solar radiation management as a way to cool planet

The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines, blasted enough fine particles and sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere to envelop the Earth in a high-altitude cloud for the better part of two months. When scientists checked in 1992, they determined that the cloud had deflected enough sunlight to cool the planet by about 1 degree. Now, with the planet warming inexorably and the threat of long-term climate change looming, some experts are wondering whether the time may one day come when humans want to deliberately attempt such "solar radiation management…" "I’m not in favor of doing it today. I’m agnostic about whether we should ever do it," said Alan Robock, a distinguished professor of environmental sciences at Rutgers University. "We don’t have enough information and, in any case, we don’t have the technology."