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posted ago by ghost_of_aswartz ago by ghost_of_aswartz +23 / -2

"Mysterious" White Spots in the Ocean

Mysterious White Spots Are Appearing in the Ocean and Nobody Knows Why

For almost a century, people have observed these so-called “whiting” events, which typically cover an area equivalent to a few hundred football fields, but nobody knows the exact cause of this phenomenon. Samples show that the discoloration is caused by fine-grained calcium carbonate that floats over the Bahama Banks, which are carbonate structures that surround the archipelago, but it’s not clear why the grain clouds sporadically appear in the ocean.

Turns out, the white spots are chalk that rained down to the surface of the ocean. Not such a mystery, scooby doo!


Kill Gates spraying Chalk into the Atmosphere

A Bill Gates Venture Aims To Spray Dust Into The Atmosphere To Block The Sun. What Could Go Wrong?

Microsoft’sMSFT +0.1% billionaire founder Bill Gates is financially backing the development of sun-dimming technology that would potentially reflect sunlight out of Earth’s atmosphere, triggering a global cooling effect. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), launched by Harvard University scientists, aims to examine this solution by spraying non-toxic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dust into the atmosphere — a sun-reflecting aerosol that may offset the effects of global warming.


First sun-dimming experiment will test a way to cool Earth⸻Researchers plan to spray sunlight-reflecting particles into the stratosphere, an approach that could ultimately be used to quickly lower the planet’s temperature

Zhen Dai holds up a small glass tube coated with a white powder: calcium carbonate, a ubiquitous compound used in everything from paper and cement to toothpaste and cake mixes. Plop a tablet of it into water, and the result is a fizzy antacid that calms the stomach. The question for Dai, a doctoral candidate at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her colleagues is whether this innocuous substance could also help humanity to relieve the ultimate case of indigestion: global warming caused by greenhouse-gas pollution.

The idea is simple: spray a bunch of particles into the stratosphere, and they will cool the planet by reflecting some of the Sun’s rays back into space. Scientists have already witnessed the principle in action. When Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it injected an estimated 20 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere — the atmospheric layer that stretches from about 10 to 50 kilometres above Earth's surface.


Bill Gates wants to release massive amounts of chalk into the stratosphere to block the sun – what could go wrong?

This article mentions calcium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate being used. Not sure if that's just bad journalism or what. The two are different compounds. Calcium carbonate is lime, limestone or chalk; whereas calcium bicarbonate is cleansing lime.

Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates is backing the development of a solar geoengineering project to dim the sun with a cloud of chalk. Scientists from Harvard University in Massachusetts who conceptualized the project said the chalk could act as a sunshade, triggering a global cooling effect that would help slow climate change.

The scientists are planning to conduct a small-scale test in June over the town of Kiruna in Sweden, spurred on by financial support from Gates and other private sponsors. A large test balloon will lift there, bringing two kilograms (kg) of calcium bicarbonate and 600 kg of scientific equipment 12 miles into the stratosphere.

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Cooling the Earth with chalk

Calcium carbonate is a sun-reflecting chemical. In its powdered form, it is used to prevent and treat low blood calcium levels in people who do not get enough calcium from their diets. It is also used as an antacid to alleviate certain digestive problems, including heartburn, acid indigestion and upset stomach.

Keutsch and his colleagues plan to use calcium carbonate to create an enormous shield that will reflect some of the Sun’s rays and heat back into space, as well as dim those that do get through.


Bill Gates Plans to Spray The Atmosphere with Chalk to Combat Climate Change

In a never-before-tested plan to alter the Earth’s atmosphere and global temperatures, one of the world’s wealthiest people, Bill Gates, is planning to spend millions with other private donors, to spray the stratosphere with chalk to combat climate change. The chalk would be calcium carbonate, the same material that is the primary component of egg shells, snail shells, seashells, and pearls. Gates and other project backers hope this plan will deflect some of the sun’s radiation from reaching the Earth’s surface, resulting in less-warm conditions here.

Before spraying tens of millions of pounds into the atmosphere, Gates is planning a small scale test in June over the Swedish town of Kiruna. A large test balloon will lift there, bringing 2 kg of chalk and 600 kg of scientific equipment 12 miles up above the Earth’s surface. Once it reaches its target altitude in the stratosphere, it will release the chalk in a plume that should end up being a mile or two long. During this test, scientists tied to Gate’s experiment at Harvard University will measure what impact, if any, the plume has on solar radiation attempting to reach the surface; they’ll also study how the chalk dust particles react with the air at such a high altitude. This data would be used for computer-modeled simulations of much grander planned dispersions.


Inferences

I think its safe to assume that Kill Gates, et al, are doing secret testing in or around the Bahamas to block out the sun with aerosolized dispersals of chalk (calcium (bi?)carbonate). It's also possible they are spraying elsewhere and that the atmospheric injections traveled to and 'rained down' on Bahamas.

I don't think anyone is going around spraying calcium carbonate on the ocean from tugboats for no discernable reason, nor do they seem to be a natural phenomenon (arising not from human activity).