Geoengineering
The 2024 Election Outcome Could Boost the Case for Geoengineering
A Trump victory would increase the odds that we will ultimately need to start blocking solar radiation as a last resort to limit climate change.
A Trump victory would increase the odds that we will eventually need to “break the glass and pull the red lever.” To be prepared for that possibility, we would also need to do more in the short term to research various forms of geoengineering, their feasibility, and their potential side effects. Basically, if you decide you’re going to start smoking a lot more cigarettes, you need to be prepared for the greater likelihood you’ll need chemo.
CONTINUE READINGAn Ethical Framework for Climate Intervention Research
Can the AGU’s new principles defuse controversy and enable responsible research?
Research into climate intervention techniques, especially solar geoengineering, has long been controversial. Scientists as well as publics and policy makers have been divided on its risks and merits. In recent years, experiments proposed or undertaken in the USA, Sweden and Mexico have triggered vociferous opposition. Growing and unregulated commercial interest in the technologies seems likely …
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CONTINUE READINGStill Crazy After All These Years
There’s been an alarming growth of conspiracy theories, often antisemitic ones, to explain extreme weather events.
Were the Democrats or lithium mining companies or international bankers behind Hurricane Helene? Is geoengineering a conspiracy to take over the planet? These conspiracy theories abound — not just in the corners of the Internet but in political figures like RFK Jr. and Marjorie Taylor Greene. And they’re beginning to influence state legislatures, including one that just banned geoengineering.
CONTINUE READINGReflections on “Yes they can control the weather.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene is wildly wrong about government scientists controlling hurricanes. There is a rich history of weather modification experiments that make that false claim more dangerous.
Since U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted earlier this month that “Yes they can control the weather” — a bunch of commentators have pointed out that she’s wildly wrong. Yes, she’s wildly wrong. No one can make, intensify, or steer hurricanes. No ability to do anything like this is even on the horizon. Her comment …
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CONTINUE READINGArctic Futures: White Shield or Blue Economy
Multiplying proposals for ice restoration face geopolitical obstacles
Ice-thickening. Glacier curtains. Cloud brightening… Proposals for Arctic climate interventions seem to be multiplying by the day. The changing climate is not only shrinking ice caps and ice sheets, but also bringing much greater than average temperature rises in polar regions. These impacts particularly disrupt the lives and livelihoods of Arctic Indigenous Peoples. Arctic impacts …
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CONTINUE READINGReflections from a Member of the SCoPEx Advisory Committee
Sharing my lessons
After many years of work, the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiments (SCoPEx) Advisory Committee concluded our work earlier this year after the research team at Harvard made the decision to cancel the experiment. I was a member of the Advisory Committee for much of its time, serving as chair and co-chair of the committee for …
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CONTINUE READINGThe global conversation about solar geoengineering just changed at the UN Environment Assembly. Here’s how.
Duncan McLaren and Olaf Corry reflect on the implications of the UNEA-6 non-decision on solar radiation modification for research and governance
As we wrote in part 1, a Swiss-led proposal to the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) to establish an expert group on solar radiation management (SRM) proved divisive and was eventually withdrawn. Here we explore why, and what that means for any global conversation about SRM. SRM has long generated concerns that, as a powerful lever …
CONTINUE READINGCountries failed to agree first steps on solar geoengineering at the UN. What went wrong?
Duncan McLaren and Olaf Corry observed as diplomats in Nairobi wrestled with a resolution on solar radiation management
In the last weeks, diplomats from all over the world were negotiating more than twenty draft resolutions at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA). The Assembly is a biennial intergovernmental meeting which sets the global environmental agenda. It also sets the strategy for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and outlines policy responses to address emerging environmental …
CONTINUE READINGA Big Year on Legal Planet
Here are the 12 most popular topics in environmental law and climate policy on Legal Planet based on our most-read posts from 2023.
It’s an understatement to say that 2023 was a transformative year for the U.S. climate movement. We saw rapid implementation of landmark federal climate laws, a series of big actions on methane emissions, a deal on Colorado River water usage, and bigger-than-expected climate victories in Sacramento. EPA’s control of toxic chemicals was tested, the U.S. …
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CONTINUE READINGHow much should we worry about climate tipping points?
A new report suggests climate tipping events may be inevitable, and urges transformative approaches to climate policy
It’s hard to keep up with the deluge of climate news around COP28. Climate damages are growing. Carbon budgets are running out. Temperature records are being re-written. Despite new pledges, climate action remains hugely insufficient and grossly unfair. And the world may be unable to avoid passing critical climate tipping points. That last comes from …
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