“Text 1
Explainer: Six Ideas to Limit Global Warming with Solar Geoengineering Scientists agree that cutting global greenhouse emissions' as soon as possible will be key to tackling global warming. But, with global emissions still on the rise, some researchers are now calling for more research into measures that could be taken alongside emissions cuts, including — controversially — the use of "solar geoengineering" technologies.
Solar geoengineering is a term used to describe a group of hypothetical technologies that could, in theory, counteract temperature rise by reflecting more sunlight away from the Earth's surface.
From sending a giant mirror into space to spraying aerosols in the stratosphere, the range of proposed techniques all come with unique technical, ethical and political challenges.
All types of solar geoengineering — known also as solar radiation management (SRM) - are united by their goal of limiting the effect of sunlight on the Earth, but they vary widely in their approach.
It is worth noting that, although these technologies could theoretically lower global warming, they do not aim to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and, therefore, would not be able to directly address problems such as ocean acidification."
The idea of engineering the climate in order to limit sunlight has been debated by scientists and
politicians for more than 50 years, but — apart from studies based on
computer simulations — very little field research has been carried out.
However, in recent months, interest in SRM appears to be growing. In October of last year [2017], scientists met in Berlin to discuss the future of geoengineering. Last November, the US House of Representatives held a subcommittee meeting on geoengineering, with SRM dominating the conversation. ...
Some fear that a geoengineered world could come with its own set of environmental and societal challenges, which they say could be comparable to — or even worse than — climate change...
Spraying aerosols high up into the stratosphere is currently the most talked-about form of SRM. The technique, which is known as "stratospheric aerosol injection", could cool the planet in a similar way to a large volcanic eruption.
When a volcano erupts, it sends an ash cloud high into the atmosphere. The sulphur dioxide released in the plume combines with water to form sulfuric acid aerosols, which are able to reflect incoming sunlight.
Researchers have proposed that artificially introducing aerosols into the atmosphere — via a plane or a high-altitude balloon — could have a similar cooling effect. The amount of cooling could be large, says Dr. Anthony Jones, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Exeter. He tells Carbon Brief "We know after the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 there was a global cooling of about half a degree for two or three years afterwards, so it does seem that injecting aerosols into the stratosphere is quite effective."
"[Researchers] have looked at changes to climate extremes, such as heatwaves, extreme precipitation events, cold nights. They've found that solar geoengineering over land regions could be very effective at reducing these extremes."
Some scientists have raised concerns that, if aerosols were used to address global warming, the world could be left at risk of a "termination shock". That is, if aerosols were released and then suddenly stopped — as a result of political disagreement or a terrorist attack, for example — global temperatures could rapidly rebound.
This sharp temperature change could be "catastrophic" for wildlife, studies have suggested. However, other research argues that the likelihood of a termination shock has been
"overplayed" and that measures could be put in place to ensure that the risk is minimised...
Despite recent research, it is still "very difficult" to gauge what the true impacts of using aerosols to cool the planet would be, says Dr. Ben Kravitz, an atmospheric scientist from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
This is because the technique "only exists in the modelling world", he told Carbon Brief at the sidelines of a conference held in Berlin.”

does this text mean should solar geoengineering be used to reduce global warming?

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29-05-2024
English

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“Text 1
Explainer: Six Ideas to Limit Global Warming with Solar Geoengineering Scientists agree that cutting global greenhouse emissions' as soon as possible will be key to tackling global warming. But, with global emissions still on the rise, some researchers are now calling for more research into measures that could be taken alongside emissions cuts, including — controversially — the use of "solar geoengineering" technologies.
Solar geoengineering is a term used to describe a group of hypothetical technologies that could, in theory, counteract temperature rise by reflecting more sunlight away from the Earth's surface.
From sending a giant mirror into space to spraying aerosols in the stratosphere, the range of proposed techniques all come with unique technical, ethical and political challenges.
All types of solar geoengineering — known also as solar radiation management (SRM) - are united by their goal of limiting the effect of sunlight on the Earth, but they vary widely in their approach.
It is worth noting that, although these technologies could theoretically lower global warming, they do not aim to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and, therefore, would not be able to directly address problems such as ocean acidification."
The idea of engineering the climate in order to limit sunlight has been debated by scientists and
politicians for more than 50 years, but — apart from studies based on
computer simulations — very little field research has been carried out.
However, in recent months, interest in SRM appears to be growing. In October of last year [2017], scientists met in Berlin to discuss the future of geoengineering. Last November, the US House of Representatives held a subcommittee meeting on geoengineering, with SRM dominating the conversation. ...
Some fear that a geoengineered world could come with its own set of environmental and societal challenges, which they say could be comparable to — or even worse than — climate change...
Spraying aerosols high up into the stratosphere is currently the most talked-about form of SRM. The technique, which is known as "stratospheric aerosol injection", could cool the planet in a similar way to a large volcanic eruption.
When a volcano erupts, it sends an ash cloud high into the atmosphere. The sulphur dioxide released in the plume combines with water to form sulfuric acid aerosols, which are able to reflect incoming sunlight.
Researchers have proposed that artificially introducing aerosols into the atmosphere — via a plane or a high-altitude balloon — could have a similar cooling effect. The amount of cooling could be large, says Dr. Anthony Jones, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Exeter. He tells Carbon Brief "We know after the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 there was a global cooling of about half a degree for two or three years afterwards, so it does seem that injecting aerosols into the stratosphere is quite effective."
"[Researchers] have looked at changes to climate extremes, such as heatwaves, extreme precipitation events, cold nights. They've found that solar geoengineering over land regions could be very effective at reducing these extremes."
Some scientists have raised concerns that, if aerosols were used to address global warming, the world could be left at risk of a "termination shock". That is, if aerosols were released and then suddenly stopped — as a result of political disagreement or a terrorist attack, for example — global temperatures could rapidly rebound.
This sharp temperature change could be "catastrophic" for wildlife, studies have suggested. However, other research argues that the likelihood of a termination shock has been
"overplayed" and that measures could be put in place to ensure that the risk is minimised...
Despite recent research, it is still "very difficult" to gauge what the true impacts of using aerosols to cool the planet would be, says Dr. Ben Kravitz, an atmospheric scientist from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
This is because the technique "only exists in the modelling world", he told Carbon Brief at the sidelines of a conference held in Berlin.”

does this text mean should solar geoengineering be used to reduce global warming?

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