The cause of all the fuss

‘Climate change is one of the most serious environmental challenges facing human and environmental systems’ (Matthews and Caldeira, 2007) – this has been drummed into society in every way possible: from international conferences publicized on the news, to pictures of polar bears on magazine covers and TVs, to commercial movies such as the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ and even ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. All with the purpose to not only make people aware of the issue but also to make people act.  

Scientific and political debate has moved away from questioning whether the world is getting warmer due to the anthropogenic emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), and has now moved to providing a solution to the problem. Until recently, the only viable solution has been to reduce emission of GHGs such as carbon dioxide, hence all of the emotive images and movies and the international conferences. However, despite international efforts, temperatures are still rising and are continuing to rise. This has led some individuals to explore different ways to stop temperatures from rising. This is how the idea of Geoengineering was born. Or was it?

Some may believe that Geoengineering is just science fiction. Or that it is a product of some crazy scientists. Others view it as a sign that the end is nigh, that we are now moving to radical measures. First of all, let us define was Geoengineering is:

Geoengineering is the ‘intentional modification and/or management of the earth’s climate system’ (Matthews and Caldeira, 2007)

This idea of intentionally modifying the climate is not a new idea. In fact, in 1965, when US President John Lyndon Johnson received the first ever briefing on the consequences of climate change, the only remedy proposed was Geoengineering (Victor et al, 2009). Moreover, even before this, governments and scientists were playing around with climate during the WW2, in the attempt to use the weather as a weapon. The Chinese government relatively recently attempted to modify weather patterns to ensure that it didn’t rain during the Olympic Games. Therefore, Geoengineering is not just science fiction, it doesn’t just originate from crazy/radical scientists and it doesn’t mean the end is nigh? Or does it?

Many argue that the mitigation of climate change through a reduction of emissions is not working. That sooner or later our climate will reach a tipping point, a point of no return, where the climate will rapidly and irreversibly shift (watch The Day After Tomorrow for a full visualisation of this!), so many believe (Crutzen, 2006; Matthews and Caldeira, 2007) that Geoengineering is an option that seriously needs to be considered. Because of this, the purpose of this blog has been devoted to doing exactly that. Geoengineering has been heavily debated in the news, ideas have been brought forward by academics, and already there is a strong discourse on the subject. Just a few of the Geoengineering ideas put forward by academics include: peeing in oceans (see video for a taster..no pun intended!), putting shades in space, spraying particles in the atmosphere, building fake trees etc:

Through considering a range of Geoengineering options, along with the pros and cons of this solution to global warming, and using a variety of sources, we will determine whether or not Geoengineering really is science fiction or a plausible reality. WATCH THIS SPACE!