SRM aims to reduce global warming by reflecting a small portion of sunlight (solar radiation) away from Earth and back into space. Although historically grouped
In our civilization’s effort to slow down and stop Climate Change and reverse Global Warming, geoengineering should not be considered the only solution, but rather an important part of a comprehensive, integrated, international program that mitigates the effects of Global Warming, restores our biosphere and addresses the root causes of Climate Change (i.e., the use of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions, human population growth, consumptive lifestyles, unsustainable practices, degradation of natural ecosystems, etc.). An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P.
However, research shows that using solar geoengineering could indirectly lower the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by stemming permafrost melt, reducing energy-sector emissions and causing changes to the carbon-cycle feedback. Aerosol injection could have an edge on other proposed forms of solar geoengineering because it would not require a large technological leap to become a reality, Jones says:. These brighter clouds would reflect away more sunlight, says Prof Douglas MacMartin, an engineering researcher from Cornell University, who contributed to the US House of Representatives’ hearing on geoengineering. Earlier this month, MacMartin, Keith and Prof Katharine Ricke, a climate scientist from the University of California, San Diego, published a research paper exploring how solar geoengineering – via releasing aerosols into the stratosphere – could be used as part of an “overall strategy” for limiting global warming to 1.5C, which is the aspirational target of the Paris Agreement. However, the researchers point out that using solar geoengineering to hold global warming to 1.5C would not have the same environmental effect as reaching the target using mitigation.
# Geoengineering: Building ethics, transparency and inclusion into climate intervention research. Geoengineering or climate intervention aims to tackle global warming through large-scale interventions in Earth’s climate system.Image: iStockphoto/AleksandarGeorgiev. * The urgency of the climate crisis has boosted interest in climate intervention or geoengineering – large-scale interventions to counteract global warming. Climate intervention, also known as geoengineering, is the deliberate large-scale intervention in Earth’s climate system to counteract global warming. On 22 October 2024, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) released its Ethical Framework Principles for Climate Intervention Research as a guide to responsible decision-making and inclusive dialogue about geoengineering research. Two leading concepts in climate intervention research – carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation modification – are defined and addressed in the framework, but the principles are broad and flexible by design so they can be applied to all emerging research. AGU developed these framework principles through a two-year process that included an open public comment period and contributions from a global board of scientists, policymakers, ethicists, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and representatives of potentially impacted communities including Indigenous peoples.
Methods include releasing large amounts of tiny reflective particles (e.g., sulfur dioxide) into the stratosphere, deploying mirrors in space,
Solar geoengineering (SG) refers to a set of methods aimed at cooling the Earth in order to counteract the warming effects of increases in greenhouse gases (
Geoengineering proposes to take much more proactive measures such as injecting aerosol into the stratosphere to increase solar reflection.
The Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP) aims to reduce uncertainties surrounding solar geoengineering; generate critical science, technology, and policy insights; and help inform the public debate surrounding this controversial idea. Recognizing that solar geoengineering could not be a replacement for reducing emissions or adapting to climate impacts, SGRP draws on Harvard’s research capabilities and global convening power to provide the knowledge necessary in considering solar geoengineering as a supplement to broader mitigation and adaptation efforts. The Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP) aims to reduce uncertainties surrounding solar geoengineering; generate critical science, technology, and policy insights; and help inform the public debate surrounding this controversial idea. Recognizing that solar geoengineering could not be a replacement for reducing emissions or adapting to climate impacts, SGRP draws on Harvard’s research capabilities and global convening power to provide the knowledge necessary in considering solar geoengineering as a supplement to broader mitigation and adaptation efforts. * In 1980, Professor Tom Schelling chaired a National Academy of Sciences committee whose report, *Changing Climate*, addressed the potential for solar geoengineering to counter global warming.