One day soon, humans may know first hand what its like to be lab rats.
Avoiding Stratospheric Ruin
Geoengineering, or “climate hacking,” defined as an attempt to reduce the atmospheric absorption of sunlight, is getting more and more press these days and raising lots of questions. Who will oversee the deployment of geoengineering technology? Will it be local, national or international organizations or all of the above? Who will protect poor nations from taking the brunt of geoengineering? Finally, will geoengineering become the only viable solution that humans can use to reverse climate change and avoid a climate emergency?
Humans would like a panacea, but it is unlikely we’ll find one.
Searching for Best Ways to Reduce Harmful Emissions
There is a UN convention on climate change but, as usual, many actors are avoiding discussion, let alone taking action. One idea is for the UN to oversee the implementation of geoengineering programs, should they become necessary. Meanwhile, humans are emitting billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year.
Preventing Nations & Independents from Going Rogue
It is becoming increasingly clear that a global problem like atmospheric warming requires a global effort, led by global organizations, to oversee how geoengineering programs are implemented. If individual nations or smaller players experiment without any oversight, vast numbers of people or the entire world population could be at risk.
Scientists Are Skeptical About Geoengineering
According to leaders in the field of geoengineering, there are not many geoengineers who believe the wide-scale use of geoengineering is a good idea. Between now and the deployment of any geoengineering technology, more climate modeling of the stratosphere and validation of models and simulations need to be done. This includes analysis of past volcanic eruptions, which could provide insight into the costs, risks and benefits of geoengineering.
References and related content:
- Risk Science Center Designing global deliberation for geoengineering governance – Risk Science Center
- “In case of emergency press here’: framing geoengineering as a response to dangerous climate change – WIREs Climate Change
- Symposium to discuss geoengineering to fight climate change at the ESA Annual Meeting | Ecological Society of America
