Abstract
Geoengineering the climate: The findings of the Royal Society study
Peter Cox, Professor of Climate System Dynamics,University of Exeter, UK
The climate change we are experiencing now is caused by an increase in greenhouse gases due to human activities, most notably through burning fossil fuels, agriculture and deforestation. Global warming has been in the scientific literature since a landmark paper by Swedish physicist Svante Arrhenius in 1896.
Over recent decades our scientific understanding of the climate system has improved dramatically. There is now widespread belief that a global warming of greater than 2oC above pre-industrial levels would be dangerous and should therefore be avoided. However, despite growing concerns over climate change, global CO2 emissions have continued to climb. This has led some to suggest more radical “Geoengineering” alternatives to conventional mitigation via reductions in CO2 emissions.
Geoengineering is deliberate intervention in the climate system to counteract man-made global warming. There are two main classes of geoengineering; direct carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management, which aims to cool the planet by reflecting more sunlight out to space. This talk will summarise the findings of a recent review of Geoengineering carried-out by the UK Royal Society, discussing the climate effects, costs, risks and research needs for each approach