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epa.gov
official
https://www.epa.gov/geoengineering/about-geoengineering
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.
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solargeoeng.org
article
https://www.solargeoeng.org/what-is-solar-geoengineering/
# What is Solar Geoengineering. Professor of Global Sustainability Governance, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University. Assistant Professor of Global Environmental Governance, Utrecht University. Solar geoengineering (also known as solar radiation management or modification, SRM), refers to a set of speculative technologies to lower global temperatures by artificially intervening in the climate systems of our planet. Simply put, solar geoengineering interventions would reflect some incoming sunlight back into space and hence ‘dim the sun’. Instead, solar geoengineering focuses on ‘symptom treatment’, seeking to limit global warming by merely masking the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. The most prominent example of solar geoengineering is stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), which calls for injecting tiny reflective particles into the stratosphere, for example, by airplanes or balloons. Stratospheric aerosol injection is the most prominent example of solar geoengineering because it would be used to influence the climate at a planetary scale, seems technically feasible, and is seen as affordable. Other examples of solar geoengineering are:.
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gao.gov
official
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108837
Solar geoengineering seeks to cool Earth’s temperature by reflecting incoming sunlight back into space, but effects on the environment and public health are uncertain. * Solar geoengineering methods might mitigate Earth’s rising temperatures, but effects are highly uncertain. * More research and field testing of solar geoengineering methods would improve understanding of effects. **What is it?** Solar geoengineering, also referred to as solar radiation modification, includes several proposed methods to reflect sunlight back into space. **How does it work?** Two atmospheric methods of solar geoengineering are generally considered the most feasible and cost effective. Other experiments, including one in the U.S., have been cancelled due to public concerns about safety or the ethics of solar geoengineering use. * **Unknown consequences.** Potentially harmful effects on human health and the environment from solar geoengineering use have been identified but are poorly understood. * What information is needed to inform public policy discussions about the use of solar geoengineering, such as the effects and ethical implications, and how might policymakers facilitate its collection?
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annualreviews.org
research
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-112321…
### Annual Review of Environment and Resources. *Annual Review Environment and Resources*. Solar geoengineering, also called sunlight reflection or solar radiation modification (SRM), is a potential climate response that would cool the Earth's surface and reduce many other climate changes by scattering on order 1% of incoming sunlight back to space. SRM can only imperfectly correct for elevated greenhouse gases, but it might complement other climate responses to reduce risks, while also bringing new risks and new challenges to global governance. As climate alarm and calls for effective near-term action mount, SRM is attracting sharply increased attention and controversy, with many calls for expanded research and governance consultations along with ongoing concerns about risks, misuse, or overreliance. We review SRM's history, methods, potential uses and impacts, and governance needs, prioritizing the approach that is most prominent and promising, stratospheric aerosol injection. ## Environmental Governance. #### Related Articles from Annual Reviews. knowable magazine from Annual Reviews. knowable magazine from Annual Reviews. Climate Resource Center, Article Collection from Annual Reviews. Climate Resource Center, Article Collection from Annual Reviews.
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climate.gov
official
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/solar-radiation-m…
**Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) refers to deliberate, large-scale actions intended to decrease global average surface temperatures by increasing the reflection of sunlight away from the Earth.** Proposed SRM methods involve the use of aerosols (small particles) or other materials to increase the reflectivity of the atmosphere, clouds, or Earth’s surface. **Long-term protection of Earth’s climate and oceans requires substantial reductions in emissions and atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other GHGs. SRM is not considered a substitute for climate mitigation efforts, which include decarbonization and GHG emission cuts.** SRM research is being conducted as a response to growing concerns that the pace of CO2 emissions reductions and CDR technology development is not sufficient to avoid severe impacts of climate change in the next decades. **Many of the processes most important for understanding SRM approaches—such as those that control the formation of clouds and aerosols—are among the most uncertain components of the climate system.** Climate models differ in simulating large-scale aerosol climate effects, including on surface temperatures, due to variations in how aerosol processes, atmospheric transport and mixing, and physics are represented.
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climate.earthathome.org
article
https://climate.earthathome.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Chapter-8-Geoengin…
2 These studies include the Royal Society report mentioned in (1) and two reports from the US Na-tional Research Council: Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration (2015), and Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth (2015), The National Acadamies Press, Washington, D.C. 182 8 Geoengineering Counteracting approached a tipping point—a threshold beyond which the Earth would enter a vastly different climate state—then emergency measures would likely garner more serious attention. 1.1 Types of Climate Intervention Geoengineering methods fall under two classes: 1) Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which removes CO2 from the atmosphere, and 2) solar radiation management (SRM), which reflects sunlight back into space. Box 8.1: Exercise to examine the mass scales involved in one type of enhanced chemical weathering6 185 Geoengineering 8 CO2 Removal 2.2 Ocean Fertilization Another of Nature’s ways of removing CO2 from the atmosphere is through photosynthesis by phytoplankton at the surface of the ocean (Figure 8.2).
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ucs.org
article
https://www.ucs.org/resources/what-solar-geoengineering
But because they may not be enough to avoid substantial climate disruption, some researchers are also looking to better understand the risks and benefits of solar geoengineering. Solar geoengineering would not address the root cause of climate change: emissions of heat-trapping gases, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels. Because solar geoengineering has global implications, its consideration as a climate response requires effective international governance. Solar geoengineering could limit some harmful climate impacts. To better understand the potential and risks of solar geoengineering, researchers should use computer modeling and monitor the climatic impacts of events such as volcanic eruptions. At the same time, UCS strongly opposes stratospheric tests of solar geoengineering technologies at a scale that could have a measurable impact on Earth’s surface climate. * Funding for solar geoengineering experiments comes only from governments and other entities that support mitigation and adaptation as the first-line solutions to climate change, and.
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carbonbrief.org
article
https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-six-ideas-to-limit-global-warming-with-…
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.