Articles | Volume 25, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-18449-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-18449-2025
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
18 Dec 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 18 Dec 2025

Injection near the stratopause mitigates the stratospheric side effects of sulfur-based climate intervention

Pengfei Yu, Yifeng Peng, Karen H. Rosenlof, Ru-Shan Gao, Robert W. Portmann, Martin Ross, Eric Ray, Jianchun Bian, Simone Tilmes, and Owen B. Toon

Viewed

Total article views: 1,495 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total Supplement BibTeX EndNote
1,307 156 32 1,495 55 28 45
  • HTML: 1,307
  • PDF: 156
  • XML: 32
  • Total: 1,495
  • Supplement: 55
  • BibTeX: 28
  • EndNote: 45
Views and downloads (calculated since 06 Jun 2025)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 06 Jun 2025)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 1,495 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 1,476 with geography defined and 19 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 
Latest update: 18 Dec 2025
Download
Executive editor
The present work highlights advantages of a stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) scheme for solar radiation management (SRM) as a geoengineering technology. It suggests higher altitude aerosol injection would reduce several of the side effects of SAI in the lower stratosphere. Given the substantial debate on scientific, ethical and societal aspects of SRM and SAI are a highly relevant topic.
Short summary
Injecting sulfur dioxide at 50 km – near the stratopause – offers a far safer and more effective climate intervention than conventional 25 km injection. Rapid downward–poleward transport distributes aerosols across 20–30 km, halving tropical stratospheric warming, reducing ozone recovery delays from decades to about 5 years, and enhancing global and polar cooling by over 20 %, while better preserving Arctic sea ice.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint