After we published a story on solar geoengineering, a set of technologies aimed at cooling the planet, we received a number of social media comments referencing the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory.
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I oversee the distribution and social media channels for the English department and write news articles in English.
I studied modern languages, English, and Russian literature, then completed an MA in international journalism in Cardiff. After that, I worked for BBC Education in Manchester for a few years before moving to Switzerland.
I cover climate change and energy through reportages, articles, interviews and in-depth reports. I am interested in the impacts of global warming on everyday life and solutions for an emission-free planet.
Passionate about travel and discovery, I studied biology and other natural sciences. I have been a journalist for SWI swissinfo.ch for more than 20 years.
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I hold a degree in Sociology from Valencia (Spain) and Bern (Switzerland), with a specialisation in Media Studies. My professional experience includes journalism, digital content creation, podcast production, and multimedia content creation.
Some users claimed that the white trails left by aircraft are actually harmful chemicals being deliberately released into the atmosphere. Given that geoengineering involves the injection of aerosols into the upper atmosphere, many drew a link between the two.
The white streaks often seen in the sky are known as contrailsExternal link, short for condensation trails. They form when water vapour and tiny soot particles emitted by jet engines freeze into ice crystals at high altitudes. Variations in humidity explain why some aircraft produce visible trails while others do not.
Solar radiation modification (SRM), by contrast, is an area of climate research. It focuses on methods to reflect more sunlight back into space or reduce the Earth’s absorption of solar energy, with the goal of mitigating global warming.
However, SRM is controversial, mainly because it doesn’t address the root cause of climate change: the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
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