Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Efficacy assessment of Stratospheric Aerosol Scrubbing as a Counter Climate Intervention strategy
Anthony C. Jones,James M. Haywood,Matthew Henry,and Alistair Duffey
Abstract. Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) has been proposed to counteract global warming. Countering SAI may prove attractive to actors who oppose deployment and methods have been suggested but not tested for efficacy. Using a global climate model with double moment aerosol microphysics, we investigate the viability of 'Stratospheric Aerosol Scrubbing' (SAS) scenarios where coarse calcite aerosol is deliberately injected to enhance aerosol growth, reduce particle radiative efficiency, and enhance sedimentation thereby reducing SAI impacts. We simulate two equatorial SAI and SAS scenarios: pulse interventions lasting 2 months, and sustained interventions lasting 20 years. We find that SAS reduces the global Stratospheric Aerosol Optical Depth by 30–40 % when the calcite mass is equal to the sulphur dioxide (SO2) mass in the pulse intervention and half of the SO2 mass in the sustained intervention. The global radiative impact in the sustained simulations is reduced from -3.3 Wm-2 to -2.3 Wm-2 under SAS, a counterbalancing of approximately 30 %. Our results suggest that SAS could be effective at offsetting SAI impacts.
Received: 18 Dec 2025 – Discussion started: 05 Jan 2026
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Anthony C. Jones,James M. Haywood,Matthew Henry,and Alistair Duffey
Data sets
Data and Scripts to support "Efficacy assessment of Stratospheric Aerosol Scrubbing as a Counter Climate Intervention strategy" by Jones et al.A. C. Jones https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17574992
Anthony C. Jones,James M. Haywood,Matthew Henry,and Alistair Duffey
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Injecting aerosol into the stratosphere has been suggested to rapidly cool the planet and counter climate change. Rival actors who oppose deployment may seek to counter stratospheric aerosol injection. Using a climate model, we investigate whether stratospheric aerosol removal could be hastened by injecting coarse aerosol which promote aerosol growth and gravitational settling. We find that this could be effective, reducing aerosol impacts by 30 % in simulations, and warrants further research.
Injecting aerosol into the stratosphere has been suggested to rapidly cool the planet and...
