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Every time I read something like this I think; What would it take to actually block the sun like Mr. Burns? And, would there be any downsides to attempting this

Every time I read something like this I think; What would it take to actually block the sun like Mr. Burns? And, would there be any downsides to attempting this? Partially block of course. I was in Maine last year during the big solar eclipse (in the US); I don't remember how much percent of the sun was blocked in that location but the temperature dropped several degrees and outdoors it only visibly got slightly darker in mid-day. I'm completely naive and ignorant about the practicalities of space stuff and climate science. But it does always pop in my mind as the obvious way to cool things down.

pdonis 8y ago
> What would it take to actually block the sun like Mr. Burns? Put a small concentration of aerosols (microscopic dust particles or other light absorbers/reflectors) in the upper atmosphere. Basically a scaled down version of what happens during a volcanic eruption. The impact of that is one of the (few) areas where we actually have good predictive power in climate science. > would there be any downsides to attempting this? Depends on how you feel about putting a small concentration of aerosols in the upper atmosphere. Also, you would have to do very small increments to avoid having more impact than you want.
andygates 8y ago
A partial eclipse from a sunshade in space sounds fun until the size and cost racks up. Even with lightweight materials and cheap launches and adding in Archinaut-type construction, it's still totally gonzo money. And the orbit is non-trivial: to stay over (or near) one area it needs to be further away from the Earth so it has less shadow so it needs to be bigger... Aerosols need to be topped up.