The Experiment to Cool the Earth: SCoPEx – From Ambitious Inception to Controversial Closure. Journal of Climate Intervention Research, .

From Ambitious Inception to Controversial Closure: A Critical Analysis of Solar Geoengineering Research

The SCoPEx project was a deal in the science world especially when it came to managing solar radiation and dealing with climate change. It started at Harvard University. Was meant to help us learn more about putting special particles into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight and slow down global warming. The people behind SCoPEx wanted to see if this could really work.

They spent ten years getting ready making sure they had the right rules in place and getting a lot of money to fund the project.. In March 2024 they decided to stop the project altogether.

This article is going to take a look at SCoPEx from how it began to why it ended. It will explore the science behind it the issues, the concerns of indigenous people and why the public was, against it. The SCoPEx project is an example of the problems that come with trying to fix climate change.

1. Introduction: The Geoengineering Imperative

There are ideas about geoengineering and one of them is called stratospheric aerosol injection. This is also known as SAI. Scientists are really interested in SAI.

They got this idea from volcanic eruptions. For example Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991. It sent a lot of sulfur dioxide into the air. Cooled the Earth down a bit. SAI is about putting particles into the air to make the Earth cooler.

SCoPEx is a project that came from this idea. It is not about doing SAI. Instead it is a test to learn more about what happens when you put these particles into the air. The people behind SCoPEx want to know more, about how these particles behave and how to make models of the climate.

2. The Genesis of SCoPEx: Scientific Purpose and Objectives

2.1 Foundational Questions

The SCoPEx project started with the research group of Professor David Keith at Harvard University. Professor David Keith is a known person in climate science and geoengineering research. Professor David Keith and Professor Frank Keutsch who is a chemical physicist wanted to find out more about the things that were not known about SAI. They had some questions that were actually very important for science:

* Aerosol Behavior: What happens when you put particles into the stratosphere? Do the particles stick together move apart or change into something

* Microphysical Dynamics: What are the different sizes of the aerosol particles how do they. Can they affect the temperature of the earth?

* Stratospheric Chemistry: How do these particles change the ozone in the stratosphere. The way the air moves around?

The SCoPEx project is trying to answer these questions about SAI and the SCoPEx project is doing research on this. Professor David Keith and the SCoPEx project team are working on the SCoPEx project to learn more about the stratosphere and the particles in it. The SCoPEx project is important for climate science and the SCoPEx project can help us understand the earth better.

2.2 USE of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO₃)

One big thing about SCoPEx was the kind of material it used. Earlier ideas for SAI used sulfur dioxide (SO₂). This can make the ozone layer get worse and heat up the stratosphere. SCoPEx decided to use Calcium Carbonate (CaCO₃). This is also known as limestone.

The reason for this choice was very good: calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) is an option. The people , behind SCoPEx chose Calcium Carbonate (CaCO₃) because of its properties.

Ozone Impact: Calcium carbonate is a harmless chemical compared to sulfur dioxide. It was thought to have little to no effect on the ozone layer.

* Optical Efficiency: Its shiny properties might help cool the Earth with material being released.

Particle Size: Scientists can make particles of different sizes to get the best results for scattering light while avoiding absorption.

However we need to be clear that SCoPEx was not meant to test climate change solutions. The planned release was small just 100 grams to 2 kilograms of material. This amount is so tiny that it wouldn't have any effect, on the climate. Instead the goal was to validate and improve computer models that simulate large-scale climate intervention deployment.

2.3 Experimental Design

The experimental architecture of SCoPEx was meticulously planned:

Component	Description
Platform	High-altitude balloon (stratospheric balloon) capable of reaching approximately 20–25 km altitude
Gondola	A specialized instrument platform equipped with propellers (rotors) to create a controlled, undisturbed air mass
Perturbation	Release of CaCO₃ particles into the controlled volume of air
Measurement	In situ sensors to monitor particle dispersion, coagulation, optical properties, and chemical interactions
Duration	Each experimental flight planned for several hours of data collection

The propellers were a critical innovation—they allowed the creation of a "laboratory in the sky," isolating the perturbed air mass from ambient stratospheric conditions, thereby enabling precise measurements without widespread environmental release.

3. Governance Framework: The Advisory Committee and Ethical Oversight

From the beginning SCoPEx was different because it was committed to having a strong governance system. The people behind SCoPEx at Harvard knew that geoengineering research would have effects on ethics and the law so they set up an independent Advisory Committee to keep an eye on things. This committee was led by two experts in law and it had members from many different fields and people from communities that might be affected by the research.

The committee followed some rules that later became a model, for how to govern geoengineering:

Transparency: All research plans and risk checks were to be open to the public.

Stakeholder Engagement: We had to have a chat, with communities that might be affected before testing in the field.

Adaptive Management: The project would only go ahead with permission and could be stopped at any time.

This way of managing the project was seen as a step forward.. Surprisingly it was the effort to involve stakeholders that ultimately led to the projects downfall.

4. The Swedish Interlude: Kiruna and the Sami Opposition

4.1 Selection of the Test Site

In the year 2021 the SCoPEx team picked Kiruna, a town in Swedish Lapland as the place to launch the first experimental flights. The SCoPEx team chose Kiruna for a simple reasons:

* It is close to the Esrange Space Center, which's a great place for launching high-altitude balloons

* The air patterns in the stratosphere are good for this kind of thing

* There are already facilities and people with the right skills, in Kiruna

The Swedish Space Corporation agreed to let the SCoPEx team use their site for the launch and the Swedish government gave them the okay to start the project.

4.2 The Sami Council's Objection

The SCoPEx team did not think that the Sami people would be strongly against their ideas. The Sami people are the people who live in this region. The Sami Council, which speaks for the Sami communities in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia said some strong things, against the SCoPEx experiment. They really did not want the SCoPEx team to do this experiment.

The Sami people had a lot of reasons for what they were saying:

* Indigenous Rights: The Sami people said they have the right to say yes or no to something before it happens and they want this to happen before anyone does any kind of geoengineering on their land. This is something that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples says they should have.

* Precautionary Principle: The Sami people do not want anyone to do any kind of geoengineering on their land without asking them. They do not want this to happen even if it is an experiment.

* Moral Hazard Concerns: The Sami people are worried that if we start doing geoengineering research people will not try hard to reduce emissions. They are also worried that this will set an example for other people.

* Cultural and Livelihood Impacts: The Sami people rely on the land and the sky for their way of life which's reindeer herding. They think that if someone messes with the air it will hurt their connection to nature. The Sami people think that geoengineering is like violating their relationship, with the earth.

5. Institutional Struggles: Harvard's Internal Divisions

Even as the Swedish launch was still not happening Harvard University became a place where people were disagreeing. The Advisory Committee, which was set up to help with research had some problems within itself.

In 2023 the committee released a report that showed its members had opinions on whether the experiment should go ahead. Some thought the scientific questions were important enough to do a controlled test while others believed the social and political risks were too big compared to the benefits of the science.

This open disagreement was new for a research project run by a university. Showed that there were bigger problems, in the geoengineering research community.

6. The Termination: March 2024

On March 18 2024 Professor Frank Keutsch, the person in charge of SCoPEx said that SCoPEx would be stopped for good. Professor Frank Keutsch made this announcement through Harvard. He gave a reasons for this decision:

* Unresolved Governance Challenges: People could not agree on a way to move forward with SCoPEx that made everyone happy even after trying for a long time.

* Resource Constraints: SCoPEx used a lot of time and money. It did not do what it was supposed to do in terms of experiments.

* Shifting Priorities: Harvard was not as interested in helping SCoPEx with its organization as it used to be.

* The Growing Polarization of Geoengineering Discourse: The discussion about SRM, which's a part of geoengineering became very divided and it was not a good idea to do field research, about it anymore because of the politics involved. Professor Frank Keutsch and the SCoPEx team had to consider these things when they decided to terminate SCoPEx.

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