• Saturday, October 30, 2010
• Inter Press Service

Beyond Copenhagen and Cancún, a different climate debate has been brewing. The outcome of this debate, however, will affect far more than the climate, and that is precisely why it is so contentious.

As many countries continue to refuse to cap their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change-induced emergencies become increasing likely - or frequent - some researchers are saying it is time to seriously look in to developing a plan B for stopping climate change. This plan B would consist of 'geoengineering' whereby carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, the amount of solar radiation heating the planet is reduced, or both.

There are several proposals that fit into these broad categories, and they vary greatly both in terms of their acceptance and in the likely feasibility that they can be done on a large enough scale. For now, though, the plans are still largely thin on specifics and relegated to the outskirts of climate discussions.

That is especially true for the category of geoengineering called solar radiation management, or SRM. This category includes, in decreasing order of likely feasibility at a large scale, according to researcher David Keith, spraying aerosols high in the atmosphere, whitening marine clouds, placing satellites with mirrors in space, and whitening the surface of the oceans.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement