The Real Fight Over Geoengineering Is Beginning

"This September, in a study published in the journal Frontiers in Science, more than 40 experts in climate change, polar geosciences, and ocean patterns warned that geoengineering was extremely unlikely to work and likely to have dangerous consequences. Spraying reflective aerosols into the atmosphere to deflect the sun's heat, could, for instance, "cause stratospheric heating, which may alter atmospheric circulation patterns, leading to wintertime warming over northern Eurasia," they wrote."

"Science fiction has more vividly imagined how humanity might try to reverse climate change and make a mess of it. This is the stuff of Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer, in which a failed geoengineering experiment has rendered the planet uninhabitably cold, and Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future, in which the Indian government decides to unilaterally geoengineer the climate after a heat wave roasts millions of its citizens to death."

"As the actual predictions for Earth's future have become more dire, scientists are starting to agree. More than 120 of them signed on to a response to the Frontiers paper that argued that more research into geoengineering was, in fact, "urgently needed." "Within the scientific community, I don't think there's any question that there's growing support for the research, just driven by the reality that climate change is progressing," Philip Duffy, the former top science adviser in the Biden admin"

Geoengineering has faced long-standing skepticism, with only a few researchers advocating study and many critics dismissing the idea. A Frontiers in Science study by over 40 experts warned that geoengineering is unlikely to succeed and could produce dangerous side effects. Reflective aerosol spraying could cause stratospheric heating and alter atmospheric circulation, potentially inducing wintertime warming over northern Eurasia. Science fiction imagines catastrophic outcomes and warns of hasty deployment before sufficient study. As climate projections grow more severe, more than 120 scientists endorsed a response calling for urgent research into geoengineering, reflecting growing concern about climate progress.

Read at The Atlantic