A5 3 That's a lot of sulphates

Abstract

 This short study utilises the concept of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), which mimics the cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, to estimate the total mass of atmospheric sulphate aerosols required to cause the extinction of all life forms inhabiting the planet, by blocking solar radiation from penetrating the stratosphere. By considering the mean free path of solar photons in the stratosphere it was found that an aerosol number density of approximately 3.54 ×10 ²⁰m^-3 was necessary to prevent light reaching the Earth’s surface. It was subsequently determined that this equates to a total mass of ≈ 5.92×10 ¹⁴ kg.