The study will be published Thursday in Science Express. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, which is NCAR's principal sponsor, as well as by NASA and European funding agencies.

"Our research indicates that trying to artificially cool off the planet could have perilous side effects," Tilmes says. "While climate
change is a major threat, more research is required before society attempts global geoengineering solutions."

In recent years, climate scientists have studied "geoengineering" proposals to cool the planet and mitigate the most severe impacts of global warming. Such plans could be in addition to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most- discussed ideas, analyzed by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen and other researchers, would be to regularly inject large amounts of Sun-blocking sulfate particles into the stratosphere. The goal would be to cool Earth's surface, much as sulfur particles from major volcanic eruptions in the past have resulted in reduced surface temperatures.

UCAR (UNIVERSITY CORPORATION FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH) - NCAR (NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH) - Stratospheric Injections to Counter Global Warming Could Damage Ozone Layer

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