Harvard News: Adjusting Earth’s thermostat, with caution
„Harvard scientists say aspects of solar geoengineering can—and should—be tested without need for full-scale deployment„
„Harvard scientists say aspects of solar geoengineering can—and should—be tested without need for full-scale deployment„
„Scientists are revisiting controversial propositions to manipulate the atmosphere and slow down the increase in temperatures on Earth by reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space. Researchers from Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are proposing a stratospheric perturbation experiment[nbsp]using small amounts of sulphuric acid to block sunlight.“
Guest Post – Rachel Smolker, Biofuelwatch. „While a remarkeable number of people, including IPCC scientists and even some environmentalists even appear easily fooled, the atmosphere and earth systems certainly will not be!“
Schäfer, Stefan; Low, Sean (2014): Asilomar moments: formative framings in recombinant DNA and solar climate engineering research. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 372 (2031). DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.0064.
„We examine the claim that in governance for solar climate engineering research, and especially field tests, there is no need for external governance beyond existing mechanisms such as peer review and environmental impact assessments that aim to assess technically defined risks to the physical environment. By drawing on the historical debate on recombinant DNA research, we show that defining risks is not a technical question but a complex process of narrative formation.“
Corner, Adam; Pidgeon, Nick (2014): Geoengineering, climate change scepticism and the ‘moral hazard’ argument: an experimental study of UK public perceptions. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 372 (2031). DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.0063.
„In this paper, we describe an online experiment with a representative sample of the UK public, in which participants read one of two arguments (either endorsing or rejecting the idea that geoengineering poses a moral hazard). The argument endorsing the idea of geoengineering as a moral hazard was perceived as more convincing overall.“
Morrow, David R. (2014): Ethical aspects of the mitigation obstruction argument against climate engineering research. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 372 (2031). DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.0062.
„Why would it be a bad thing if climate engineering research obstructed mitigation? If climate engineering promises to be effective enough, it might justify some reduction in mitigation. Climate policy portfolios involving sufficiently large or poorly planned reductions in mitigation, however, could lead to an outcome that would be worse than the portfolio that would be chosen in the absence of further climate engineering research.“
Parker, Andy (2014): Governing solar geoengineering research as it leaves the laboratory. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 372 (2031). DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.0173.
„As a piece of pragmatic policy analysis, this paper explores the practicalities and implications of demands for ‘governance before research’. It concludes that ‘governance before research’ is a desirable goal, but that a delay in experimentation—a moratorium—would probably be an ineffective and counterproductive way to achieve it.“
Keith, David W.; Duren, Riley; MacMartin, Douglas G. (2014): Field experiments on solar geoengineering: report of a workshop exploring a representative research portfolio. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 372 (2031). DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.017.
„We summarize a portfolio of possible field experiments on solar radiation management (SRM) and related technologies. The portfolio is intended to support analysis of potential field research related to SRM including discussions about the overall merit and risk of such research as well as mechanisms for governing such research and assessments of observational needs.“
Storelvmo, T.; Boos, W. R.; Herger, N. (2014): Cirrus cloud seeding: a climate engineering mechanism with reduced side effects? In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 372 (2031). DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.0116.
„Here, we present a global modelling study of a so far understudied CEM, namely the seeding of cirrus clouds to reduce their lifetimes in the upper troposphere, and hence their greenhouse effect. Different from most CEMs, the intention of cirrus seeding is not to reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface. This particular CEM rather targets the greenhouse effect, by reducing the trapping of infrared radiation by high clouds.“
Dykema, John A.; Keith, David W.; Anderson, James G.; Weisenstein, Debra K. (2014): Stratospheric controlled perturbation experiment: a small-scale experiment to improve understanding of the risks of solar geoengineering. In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 372 (2031). DOI 10.1098/rsta.2014.0059.
„This experiment—provisionally titled the stratospheric controlled perturbation experiment—is under development and will only proceed with transparent and predominantly governmental funding and independent risk assessment. We describe the scientific and technical foundation for performing, under external oversight, small-scale experiments to quantify the risks posed by SRM to activation of halogen species and subsequent erosion of stratospheric ozone.“