Scientists warn solar geoengineering carries major planetary risks
7 reported3 unconfirmed
Four climate scientists have published a commentary warning that solar geoengineering and other large-scale climate intervention proposals pose significant risks to Earth's climate system. The authors, who collectively have over 100 years of climate physics experience, argue that such schemes would put the planet in a "dangerously precarious state" and introduce destabilizing technology to an already turbulent political climate. They state that solar geoengineering would require up to two decades to build the necessary infrastructure, after which the world would become completely reliant on maintaining it. The scientists warn that if circumstances forced a cessation of solar geoengineering, pent-up warming would be released in a catastrophically rapid "termination shock." They also note that private companies, including the Israeli-US startup Stardust and Reflect Orbital, are pursuing geoengineering technologies with venture capital funding and without governance frameworks. The authors call for the same level of scientific diligence applied to understanding greenhouse gas emissions before pursuing geoengineering.
What’s reported
Solar geoengineering proposals involve reducing sunlight by injecting substances whose effects decay in a matter of years
It would take as long as two decades to create the required infrastructure for solar geoengineering
After only 10 years of stratospheric aerosol injection, global cooling could range from less than 10C to as much as 30C
The UK's Aria agency has funded a £60m geoengineering programme, with many projects done in collaboration with for-profit companies
Stardust, an Israeli-US startup, has received more than $60m in venture capital and assumes near-term deployment
Reflect Orbital wants to put giant mirrors in low Earth orbit, pitching sales of illumination
The UK Royal Society, US National Academy, and French Academy of Sciences have each highlighted major uncertainties, core ethics and governance issues
Open questions
What specific governance framework could be established for geoengineering
Whether geoengineering technologies are governable at all
What the regional impacts on weather and climate variability would be
Key figures
Raymond Pierrehumbert, Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Oxford, lead author on IPCC Third Assessment Report, Fellow of the Royal Society
Julia Slingo, former Chief Scientist of the UK Met Office, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society
Michael E Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor in Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Directeur de Recherche at the Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory, co-chair of IPCC Working Group 1 during AR6
Sources: The Guardian
