Direct Climate Cooling
The Blue Cooling Initiative (BCI) is an urgent and critical response to the accelerating climate crisis, spearheaded by a diverse coalition of scientists, opinion leaders, civil servants, and politicians. BCI advocates ocean-based cooling by:
- Organizing Societal Acceptance:
- Raising public awareness about the potential and necessity of ocean-based cooling solutions.
- Engaging (indigenous) communities and stakeholders in discussions to build a broad base of support.
- Securing Funding for R&D:
- Advocating and facilitating investment from both public and private sectors to advance research and development of these climate cooling solutions.
- Fostering bilateral agreementsfor governmental and international funding, and cooperation on climate cooling.
- Removing Barriers by Forging Coalitions:
- Building alliances between scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders to overcome regulatory, technical, and financial hurdles.
- Advocating and facilitating coordination of efforts to ensure that we accelerate deployment effectively.
The Urgency
Crossing critical climate tipping points could shift our planetary systems from supporting to undermining human existence. The last decade has seen unprecedented temperature rises, with the hottest summers on record, leading to a cascade of climate-related disasters such as heatwaves, droughts, typhoons, and floods.
Push them (the tipping points) too far and they will shift over from supporting humanity to starting to undermine humanity’
Swedish professor Johann Rockström
The Critical Timeframe
The next 5 to 10 years are crucial. If global temperatures continue to rise unchecked, we could see seawater temperatures exceeding 40°C, triggering severe ecological and societal impacts. The Initiative aims to implement measures swiftly to avoid reaching catastrophic tipping points.
Call to Action
The Blue Cooling Initiative calls for immediate action not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the root cause of climate change but also to implement emergency measures to directly address the rising global temperatures. By accelerating the development and deployment of ocean-based cooling solutions, we can potentially mitigate the worst effects of climate change and protect our planet for future generations.
In summary, the Blue Cooling Initiative represents a proactive and scientifically grounded effort to combat climate change through innovative ocean-based solutions. The focus on Marine Cloud Brightening and other ocean-based cooling strategies provides a promising path forward, but requires urgent and coordinated action to succeed within the critical timeframe.
Marine Cloud Brightening Brings Biomimetic Direct Climate Cooling
Sir David King
Founder and chairman of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, founder of the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge and contributing scientist to the Refreeze the Arctic Foundation.
‘Marine cloud brightening, by contrast to other solar Radiation management technologies is not geoengineering but “biomimicry”, a means of imitating a natural process on a huge scale. The science is straightforward in theory’.
Professor Stephen Salter
Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design at Edinburgh University, pioneer in Marine Cloud Brightening research and international speaker on global challenges.
‘Given the right places on the oceans where clean air is available, the amazing thing is that spraying about 10 m³ of (sea)water a second would undo all the temperature damage we have done to the world up till now.’
Professor Herman Russchenberg
Head Department Geoscience and Atmospheric Remote Sensing at TU Delft, Director Climate Institute and contributing scientist to the Refreeze the Arctic Foundation.
‘Adding aerosols to the clouds would help restore their cooling ability. Aerosols promote the formation of cloud droplets. The more droplets, the more sunlight is reflected.’
Dr. Daniel Harrison
Project leader Cloud Brightening project Great Barrier Reef, speaker, senior lecturer National Marine Science Center at Southern Cross University.
‘If we do have really strong action on climate change, then the modelling shows that the cloud brightening is enough to stop the reef declining and to actually see it through this period while we reduce our carbon emissions.’
Dr. Shaun Fitzgerald
Director of the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge, fellow at Girton College and Director at Cambridge Zero.
‘The problem is that we are moving too slowly and we are at serious risk of losing the Arctic summer sea ice, glaciers and other ecosystems which support cooler temperatures on Earth. Marine Cloud Brightening could potentially provide a means of safeguarding our climate whilst we get our greenhouse gas levels down.’
About BCI
Temporary Emergency Measures and Long-Lasting Solutions
BCI is an independent Dutch NGO that recognizes the need for both immediate and long-term strategies to combat global warming. To address this, BCI has identified key measures in two categories:
- Temporary Planet Cooling Measures: These measures aim to provide quick relief by rapidly reducing temperatures and buying time for more sustainable solutions to address the root causes of climate change.
- Long-Lasting Solutions: These are more permanent measures focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing natural carbon sinks.
Independent Global Governance Of Ocean-Based Cooling Solutions
BCI is not just about advocacy for biomimetic solutions, innovative technologies and research and development. We also aim to design an effective governance structure for MCB and promote its acceptance as a promising global climate concept to mitigate the effects of global warming.
‘In addition to the mitigation- and adaptation-scenarios, reality forces us to work on planned cooling models. The old approach no longer works. The earth is on fire, call the fire brigade!’
Wouter van Dieren
‘How could I be a bystander? We all need to step up and take our climate back, not tomorrow but now.’
Dale Anne Bourjaily
‘We have waited too long with appropriate actions, now we have to buy more time for those actions to take effect.’
Hans van der Loo
‘Without even realizing it, we have been engaged in a form of geoengineering for more than 200 years’
Jeannette Hoek
‘Climate action to reduce global warming is inevitable. We need to accept, act and adapt.’
Sander Epema
Understanding Marine Cloud Brightening
Marine Cloud Brightening involves the spraying of fine seawater droplets into the atmosphere to increase the reflectivity (albedo) of marine clouds. These droplets act as cloud condensation nuclei, encouraging the formation of clouds with more and smaller droplets, which are brighter and more reflective. By reflecting more sunlight back into space, these brighter clouds can reduce the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth’s surface, thereby creating a cooling effect.
Biomimetic Principles in Marine Cloud Brightening
The concept of MCB is inspired by natural processes. Biomimicry, or the emulation of natural systems and processes, underpins this technology:
- Cloud Formation: Natural cloud formation occurs when water vapor condenses around particles in the atmosphere. MCB mimics this process by providing additional condensation nuclei, thereby enhancing cloud formation.
- Albedo Effect: Just as ice and snow reflect sunlight, brightened clouds increase the albedo effect, which is nature’s way of regulating temperature by reflecting solar radiation.
Direct Cooling
MCB provides a method for directly cooling specific regions, which can be particularly useful in mitigating heatwaves and protecting vulnerable ecosystems.
Local Scalability
MCB can be scaled to target areas experiencing extreme temperatures, offering a flexible approach to climate intervention as active cooling solution.
Immediate Impact
Unlike many other climate solutions that require decades or even centuries to take effect, MCB can have a more immediate impact on local and global temperatures.
Meet Our Team
Dedicated To Developing Climate Cooling Resilience
The Blue Cooling Initiative is a a growing group of scientists, opinion leaders, civil servants and politicians who see the need to catalyse on a Research & Development, that started modestly 20 years ago but is now more and more in the focus of interest and discussion.
Key members of the Board of BCI serve on a voluntary basis and do not receive remuneration for their services, apart from reimbursement for any expenses incurred while performing their duties.
- Wouter van Dieren (President)
- Dale Anne Bourjaily (Treasurer)
- Jeannette Hoek (Secretary)
Wouter van Dieren
Founding Partner
Dale Anne Bourjaily
Founding Partner
Hans van der Loo
Founding Partner
Jeannette Hoek
Founding Partner
Sander Epema
Founding Partner
Act on the Acceleration of Global Climate Cooling Solutions
The Blue Cooling Initiative is an urgent and critical response to the accelerating climate crisis, spearheaded by a diverse coalition of scientists, opinion leaders, civil servants, and politicians through:
- Funding and Support: Advocating and facilitating resources from governments, private sector, and international organizations to accelerate R&D.
- Collaboration: Fostering partnerships among scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders to address technical and regulatory challenges.
- Education and Engagement: Raising awareness and building support among the public and stakeholders through outreach and education efforts.
Free courses on climate change are available at the Copernicus Marine Institute.
A Cool Conclusion
Biomimetic Principles
Marine Cloud Brightening represents a promising biomimetic solution for direct cooling, offering a potential pathway to mitigate the impacts of climate change swiftly.
Benefits of Marine Cloud Brightening
By leveraging natural principles, MCB can enhance cloud reflectivity and contribute to reducing global temperatures. However, realizing its full potential requires concerted efforts in research, regulation, and public engagement to ensure it is implemented safely and effectively.
Be Ahead of the Curve
The Blue Cooling Initiative is at the forefront of these efforts, driving the necessary actions to pave the way for a cooler planet.
How You Can Contribute
BCI’s dual focus on both immediate and long-term measures provides a balanced approach to mitigating global warming. By implementing MCB as a temporary measure, the initiative can offer quick relief and critical time to develop and scale sustainable solutions. BCI’s comprehensive strategy includes:
Advancing Research
Continued support to advance academic research into MCB and other ocean-based cooling solutions to optimize effectiveness and safety.
MCB offers a promising temporary solution to quickly cool the climate in a biomimetic way.
Building Coalitions
Forming alliances among scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders to drive forward both temporary and long-term solutions.
By collaborating on innovative solutions we can leverages biomimetic principles observed in nature to create a cooling effect that can help mitigate the impacts of global warming.
Public Engagement
Raising awareness and fostering public support for innovative climate solutions, sustainable practices, and innovative technologies.
By embracing an equitable, inclusive and scientifically grounded approach, the world community can strive towards a safe and healthy climate, minimizing polarization and fostering global cooperation in the fight against climate change and the effects of global temperature rise.
Securing Funding
Attracting investments for both immediate interventions like MCB and other ocean-based cooling solutions for long-term climate stability.
Together, we can secure the necessary financial resources to scale up our efforts and accelerate the development of Marine Cloud Brightening and related ocean-based solutions that regenerate our oceans and aid in increasing biodiversity again.