Is Geoengineering a Solution to Global Warming?
(P,G.S) In response to the global warming problem, there has been a recent renewed call for geoengineering “solutions” involving injecting particles into the stratosphere or blocking sunlight with satellites between the Sun and Earth. While simple calculations have shown that such measures would cool the planet on a global average basis, volcanic eruptions, the closest analogs we have to these proposed schemes, also produce large regional climate changes in temperature and precipitation. In this talk, I describe different proposed geoengineering designs, and then show climate model calculations that evaluate both their efficacy and their possible adverse consequences. At the current level of understanding, there are too many potential problems with geoengineering, and it would be much cheaper and easier to solve the global warming problem by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These problems will be described, and include cost, continued ocean acidification, obtaining global agreement o
