Cloud seeding: Injecting substances such as calcium carbonates into clouds to make them brighter and thus reflect more sunlight. Some of these
by H Zhu · 2024 · Cited by 3 — Geoengineering proposes to take much more proactive measures such as injecting aerosol into the stratosphere to increase solar reflection.
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.
Geoengineering refers to large-scale interventions in the Earth’s oceans, soils and atmosphere with the aim of reducing the effects of climate change, usually temporarily. The two main categories of proposed geoengineering techniques are:. * **Solar Radiation Modification (SRM):** SRM techniques, which are also referred to as solar geoengineering, attempt to deal with the symptoms of climate change by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth or allowing more heat back into space. In addition, various **weather modification** techniques exist, such as cloud seeding, which aim to change weather and precipitation patterns without changing the climate more broadly. Climate engineering proposals represent efforts to manipulate the climate on a global scale, but each proposed technique brings its own environmental and social impacts. While geoengineering techniques and technologies vary in scope and scale (see: Technologies), **a few important characteristics apply to all of them**:. * See our geoengineering technologies page for specifics on the different schemes.
Researchers have proposed various methods to curb the effects of climate change by reflecting sunlight away from the planet. Stratospheric
Geoengineering seeks to slow or mask the impacts of warming at the poles. Geoengineering seeks to counteract the effects of global warming.
For example, geoengineering includes the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (also called Carbon Dioxide Removal – CDR) through methods such as direct air capture and storage, ocean iron fertilization, or ocean alkalinity enhancement. These activities are referred to as **Solar Geoengineering** or **Solar Radiation Modification (SRM).** Most proposed solar radiation modification techniques involve adding material to the atmosphere to increase the amount of incoming sunlight reflected back to space. Marine solar radiation management (mSRM) techniques, on the other hand, involve adding materials to ocean waters, sea ice, or the lower atmosphere to increase the amount of solar radiation reflected at or near the ocean's surface to limit surface warming or sea ice melt. * *Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB)* – adding particles, such as sea spray, to the lower atmosphere (near the surface) to increase the reflectivity of clouds over the ocean. Another subset of geoengineering activities intends to cool the Earth by intentionally modifying the concentration of certain gases in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide.
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.