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Is this just haze or something more?

 
Well & Truly Off The Grid
Last Post by Judith 8 months ago
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Mars
 Mars
(@editor)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4372
Topic starter 25/07/2025 9:11 am  

We clocked this article back in July from the BBC about real-world UK experiments to reflect sunlight and potentially cool the planet. At the time, I dismissed it. But this summer has felt different to the previous seven where we've lived, with a persistent haze most days, even when it’s “sunny”. Our skies feel… muted. 

Haze

Is anyone else noticing this?


This topic was modified 8 months ago by Mars

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Toodles
 Toodles
(@toodles)
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25/07/2025 2:59 pm  

I am not a scientist nor a meteorologist and I know the cube root of s*d all about climatology, however, ignorance does not ban me from having my own thoughts and fears of such interventions as cloud impregnation to produce higher reflectivity.

Perhaps I am cynical but who or what organisations are the proposed funders of such schemes - might they have some connection with the fossil fuel industry? I feel that such schemes are proposed, not to reduce the climate imbalance but to quell those who wish to reduce fossil fuel use; ‘if we do this, then we can burn more fossils without deleterious effect on the climate, so all is ok innit?’ type of thing.

We (all the ‘developed’ nations) have been pouring pollutants into the air for some 200 years with little thought as to the outcome of such actions. The effects have been cumulative and some ‘tin pot’ hair brained, unproven ideas of painting clouds with reflective properties (using aircraft that themselves are spewing out even more pollutants as they go on their merry way) just won’t cut it! (The expression about a drop in the ocean comes to mind.) 2 centuries of spewing pollutants into the air would take a great deal of of remedial measures I feel. Is it a proven technology they would like to use? I doubt it - and if the technology isn’t sound…

On your actual question Mars, with my eyesight, I am not sure if I would detect such a haze anyway; however, I feel that even if my visions of the situation are a little jaundiced (sceptical?) I foresee such money being wasted with as yet unknown consequences and might well have been invested in renewable energy projects instead.

Am I a looney, a fear monger, an ill educated twerp who should not be let loose, never mind allowed access to such organs as RHH? Maybe, but I feel I am entitled to my opinion and feel that in my 77 years so far, I have witnessed numerous ‘experiments’ that have back fired on humanity and the world. I think Sir David Attenborough would have something to say on the matter (and so much more eloquently than I) - I’ll step down from my soap box now - who’s next?

Regrets, Toodles


This post was modified 8 months ago by Toodles

Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.


   
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Majordennisbloodnok
 Majordennisbloodnok
(@majordennisbloodnok)
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28/07/2025 2:00 pm  

Posted by: @toodles
↑

...but I feel I am entitled to my opinion...

Of course you're entitled, @toodles, and I would be very concerned if such entitlement were taken from any of us.

However, alongside a right to an opinion comes a responsibility to regularly check that opinion to see if it continues to makes sense otherwise we just risk intransigence. You, I have found, are very open to reasoned discussion, so I'm naturally more inclined to listen to your opinion. Here endeth my hobby-horse moment.

Posted by: @editor
↑

But this summer has felt different to the previous seven where we've lived, with a persistent haze most days, even when it’s “sunny”. Our skies feel… muted. 

@editor, whilst I'd love it if someone had found some magic bullet scheme I rather doubt any attempts will have got that far that quickly and especially not without a fair amount of fanfare.

As a pure guess, I'd lean towards the seemingly more likely possibility that all this warm weather and the greater amount of evaporation it will have brought with it probably means the air is hazy because of the greater water content. I certainly find my favourite time of the year to be late autumn/early winter when the crisp, frosty mornings have stripped the air of moisture and I can see for miles.


105 m2 bungalow in South East England
Mitsubishi Ecodan 8.5 kW air source heat pump
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"Semper in excretia; sumus solum profundum variat"


   
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Toodles
 Toodles
(@toodles)
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28/07/2025 2:18 pm  

@majordennisbloodnok I was giving a talk to primary school - aged pupils some years ago as this was something I did for some local schools from time to time as I worked in education and had contact with many primary school teachers. I used to give a short talk about living with sight loss. One pupil enquired ‘How far can you see Sir?’ I replied (rather cheekily) ‘Ninety Two Million Miles’ and went on to explain I could see the Sun. Mind you, I am uncertain as to whether I could see the haze even then! Sorry for the digression folks!. Toodles.


This post was modified 8 months ago by Toodles

Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.


   
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 Judith
(@judith)
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Posts: 493
01/08/2025 4:28 pm  

I think the present somewhat cooler hazy days show the promise of geo-engineering but £60m would not be anywhere near near enough so we can be certain that we have only natural haze at present.

But the world to be exact south-east Asia have just been doing a very large scale experiment. Their large output of sulphur and other aerosol particulates have been slowing global warming over the past few decades. Killing lots of people with pollution instead though. 
So they’ve now put scrubbers on dirty coal-fired power stations and the output is cleaner. Ships are now starting to burn cleaner fuels (not sump oil-like stuff) as they steam around the world.

The scientific papers are in Nature (prestigious journal) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42891-2 (both heavy going) & https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02527-3  

this web site is an easier read https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-how-human-caused-aerosols-are-masking-global-warming/  

So in principle our skies should look clearer!


2kW + Growatt & 4kW +Sunnyboy PV on south-facing roof Solar thermal. 9.5kWh Givenergy battery with AC3. MVHR. Vaillant 7kW ASHP (very pleased with SCOP 4.7) open system operating on WC


   
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