Science Alert January 18, 2022
In an open letter more than 60 policy experts and scientists warned that planetary-scale engineering schemes designed to cool Earth’s surface and lessen the impact of global heating are potentially dangerous and should be blocked by governments. According to the signatories there are several reasons to reject such a course of action – artificially dimming the Sun’s radiative force is likely to disrupt monsoon rains in South Asia and western Africa, ravage the rain-fed crops upon which hundreds of millions depend for nourishment, if SRM were terminated for any reason, there is high confidence that surface temperatures would increase rapidly. According to the IPCC the technology would do nothing to stop the continuing buildup of atmospheric CO2, raising hopes about a quick fix for climate “can disincentivize governments, businesses and societies to do their upmost to achieve decarbonization, and there is currently no global governance system to monitor or implement solar geoengineering schemes. The open letter calls for an “international non-use agreement” that would block national funding, ban outdoor experiments, and refuse to grant patent rights for SRM technologies…read more.
The sun dimmed by airborne particles from Australia’s bushfires. Credit: James de Wall/Getty Images