Stratospheric aerosol injection
sulfur-rich particles in the stratosphere
Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) is a proposed method of solar geoengineering (or solar radiation modification) to reduce global warming. This would introduce aerosols into the stratosphere to create a cooling effect via global dimming and increased albedo, which occurs naturally from volcanic winter. It has been claimed that stratospheric aerosol injection, at a moderate intensity, could counter most changes to temperature and precipitation, take effect rapidly, have low direct implementation costs, and be reversible in its direct climatic effects. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that it "is the most-researched solar radiation modification method, with high agreement that it could limit warming to below 1.5 °C (2.7 °F)." However, like other solar geoengineering approaches, stratospheric aerosol injection would do so imperfectly and other effects are possible, particularly if used in a suboptimal manner.
Various forms of sulfur have been shown to cool the planet after large volcanic eruptions. However, as of 2021, there has been little research and existing aerosols in the stratosphere are not well understood, so there is no leading candidate material. Alumina, calcite and salt are also under consideration. The leading proposed method of delivery is custom aircraft.
Background and mechanism
Natural aerosols
Sources of natural aerosols include oceans, volcanoes, deserts, and living organisms. The ocean produces aerosols in two main ways.
“Stratospheric aerosol injection” enters the record as sulfur-rich particles in the stratosphere. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Stratospheric, aerosol and injection can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7622249. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2021.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stratospheric aerosol injection” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.