Cooling earth with moon dust – a clever climate solution or making Frankenstein’s monster?

Source: The post is based on the article “Cooling earth with moon dust – a clever climate solution or making Frankenstein’s monster?” published in The Hindu on 21st February 2023.

What is the News?

In search of solutions to counteract the consequences of climate change, a group of astrophysicists has proposed that dust could be extracted from the moon and used as a shield to put it around the Earth and thus block the Sun’s rays.

What is Moonlight Cooling?

The idea of using lunar dust to cool the Earth’s temperature is based on a natural phenomenon called “moonlight cooling.”

When the Moon’s surface reflects the sun’s rays, it cools down rapidly after sunset.

Scientists believe that a thin layer of lunar dust could be used to create a similar effect on the Earth’s surface.

The proposal suggests launching a spacecraft to the Moon to collect dust particles, which would then be transported to the Earth’s atmosphere and released.

Is Moonlight Cooling a new idea?

This is not a new idea. In fact, it has been proposed before as a way to combat global warming, and several studies have been conducted to explore its feasibility.

One study published in the journal Earth’s Future estimated that the technique could reduce the Earth’s temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is a significant amount in the context of climate change.

What are the risks associated with this idea?

Firstly, this article draws a comparison between the proposed use of moon dust and the story of Frankenstein’s monster, in which a scientist creates a monster that ultimately causes destruction and chaos.

– The analogy suggests that the use of moon dust could have unintended consequences that are difficult to predict and that such large-scale climate interventions should be approached with caution.

Secondly, the dust could harm the environment or respiratory health if it is not properly controlled.

Thirdly, collecting enough dust to make a significant impact on the Earth’s temperature would require a significant investment of resources, including launching multiple spacecraft to the Moon.