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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Raymond Pierrehumbert, Julia Slingo, Michael Mann and Valerie Masson-Delmotte

‘Termination shock’: trust our expert warnings on geoengineering’s planetary risks

A nighttime view of Earth from space showing Europe, Asia and Africa illuminated by city lights
‘No, solar geoengineering does not ‘buy time’ for decarbonisation.’ Photograph: Michala Garrison/NASA Earth Observatory/Reuters

A series in the Guardian recently declared “it’s time to talk about geoengineering.” So let’s talk about it. And let us start with some simple truths about this cluster of techno-optimistic “quick fixes” which purport to somehow offset our slow progress towards zeroing out planet-warming carbon emissions.

Solar geoengineering proposals – reducing sunlight – have received the most attention, but a host of desperate schemes have been proposed in an effort to “fix” the disruption of climate caused by the growing burden of carbon dioxide human activities add to the atmosphere.

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