Should we reflect sunlight to cool the planet?

Solar geoengineering might help lower temps, but it’s a controversial approach.

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The climate change crisis has become so dire that we’re being forced not only to think of ways to curb emissions and mitigate greenhouse gases, but of ways to adapt to our current situation to buy ourselves more time.

One of those technologies is called solar geoengineering. It happens in nature when huge volcanic eruptions cover the stratosphere with ash: That ash forms a layer that reflects sunlight and cools the planet underneath. Solar geoengineering takes advantage of that principle, using different scientific methods to make the planet more reflective overall. The problem is, deploying it would require messing with our very complicated climate on a massive scale, and many scientists don’t think the risks are worth it.

To get an in-depth look at the pros and cons of solar geoengineering, we interviewed a slew of experts on both sides of the issue. Watch our explainer to decide where you stand.

Sources and further reading:

To explore our global CO2 emissions, take a look at Our World in Data’s charts:
https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions

The open letter for an international non-solar geoengineering agreement signed by 400 scientists, including Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert, can be found here:
https://www.solargeoeng.org/non-use-agreement/open-letter/

The open letter supporting further research into solar geoengineering signed by 110 scientists, including Professors David Keith and Sarah Doherty, can be found here:
https://climate-intervention-research-letter.org/

Read the Sami Council’s letter calling to shut down Harvard’s SCoPEx project, which Professor David Keith is affiliated, with here:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dfb35a66f00d54ab0729b75/t/60c0a4bac8e3952583139537/1623237819160/Indigenous+Peoples+call+on+Harvard+to+shut+down+the+SCoPEx+project.pdf

Check out the study we quote in the video about an increase in deaths related to extreme weather:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35550080/

To dig into the global effects of Mount Pinatubo’s eruption, check out NASA’s research:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1510/global-effects-of-mount-pinatubo#:~:text=In%20the%20case%20of%20Mount,effect%20on%20the%20Earth%27s%20surface.

To learn more about Mexico’s ban on solar geoengineering and the stunt that led to this decision, check out this article by The Verge:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/18/23560446/mexico-ban-solar-geoengineering-make-sunsets-startup-experiments

And to learn more about the US solar geoengineering research plan, check out this MIT Technology Review article:
https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/07/01/1055324/the-us-government-is-developing-a-solar-geoengineering-research-plan/

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