For years there has been public debate on whether human activity is the cause of global climate change. The consensus view now is that we have changed the climate, but doing so was not our intent.
More recently, there has been growing discussion of geoengineering, which is deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climatic system, specifically mentioned in the context of trying to reduce global warming.
There are a growing number of theoretical studies on this topic, generally related to solar radiation management technology (SRM). The idea is to reduce the amount of sunlight entering the atmosphere, typically by injecting aerosols of one sort or another into its upper reaches, and thereby changing the atmosphere’s albedo or reflectivity. So we would not reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we would just reduce the amount of sunlight that is received at the Earth’s surface.
The practicality of any of these schemes is currently a secondary consideration. Of far greater importance are the possible unintended consequences of such tinkering with the global ecosystem. The ethical and political ramifications of such activity are staggering in scope. Who would be responsible for a deliberate action that would affect everyone and everything on the planet?
Currently, speculation about geoengineering is mostly academic in nature, and grist for some interesting public opinion surveys. However, as the consequences of global warming continue to mount, it is likely that geoengineering schemes may be given increasingly serious consideration.
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Web Links
Study finds mixed views on use of aerosols to limit climate change
http://phys.org/news/2013-05-views-aerosols-limit-climate.html
Photo, taken on January 15, 2006, courtesy of Bruce Irving via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.