More than 90 scientists from around the world have written an open letter recommending that research be done on the potential of increasing solar radiation modification (SRM) — the reflection of sunlight away from Earth’s atmosphere, sometimes referred to as “solar geoengineering” — in order to slow planetary warming and lessen climate impacts. The scientists […]
By Jan Minx, Dr. Sabine Fuss and Gregory Nemet Despite the ambitious long-term climate goals of the Paris agreement, there remains a distinct lack of success at ushering in immediate and sustained reductions in global CO2 emissions. This cognitive dissonance has seen the topic of “negative emissions“—also known as “carbon dioxide removal”—move into the limelight […]
By Robert McSweeney Solar geoengineering, or “solar radiation management” (SRM), is perhaps the most controversial of the different ways of limiting human-caused climate change. A commonly voiced objection to the technique is the risk of “termination shock”—the rapid rebounding of global temperatures if SRM is deployed and then suddenly stopped. But a new research article, […]
By Daisy Dunne Reducing the impacts of human-caused climate change through the use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage—better known as BECCS—could have major consequences for wildlife, forests and water resources, a new study shows. The large-scale conversion of existing land to BECCS plantations could cause global forest cover to fall by as much […]
By Tim Radford Geoengineering—the untested technofix that would permit the continued use of fossil fuels—could create more problems than it could solve. By masking sunlight with injections of sulphate aerosols in the stratosphere, nations could perhaps suppress some of the devastating hurricanes and typhoons that in a rapidly warming world threaten northern hemisphere cities. But […]
By Steve Horn Geoengineering, hailed in some circles as a potential techno-fix to the climate change crisis, has taken a step closer to going mainstream. The U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology held a rare joint subcommittee hearing on Nov. 8, only the second ever congressional hearing of its kind on the topic […]
By Jane A. Flegal and Andrew Maynard Hollywood’s latest disaster flick, “Geostorm,” is premised on the idea that humans have figured out how to control the earth’s climate. A powerful satellite-based technology allows users to fine-tune the weather, overcoming the ravages of climate change. Everyone, everywhere can quite literally “have a nice day,” until—spoiler alert!—things […]
By Tim Radford Geoengineering, the deliberate alteration of the planet to undo its inadvertent alteration by humans over the past 200 years, is back on the scientific agenda, with a climate compromise suggested as a possible solution. One group wants to turn down the global thermostat and reverse the global warming trend set in train […]
By Alex Carlin A recent New York Magazine article about the climate ruin we are facing, by David Wallace Wells, has caused a furor for describing the catastrophes that could happen to our planet by the end of the century if we do not mitigate the harms to our climate and reverse course. This op-ed […]