Geoengineering is just a partial solution to fight climate change
The technology's regional impacts depend on how much greenhouse gas
emissions are reduced

Date:
July 20, 2020
Source:
Rutgers University
Summary:
Could we create massive sulfuric acid clouds that limit global
warming and help meet the 2015 Paris international climate goals,
while reducing unintended impacts? Yes, in theory, according to
a new study. Spraying sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere
at different locations, to form sulfuric acid clouds that block
some solar radiation, could be adjusted every year to keep global
warming at levels set in the Paris goals. Such technology is known
as geoengineering or climate intervention.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Could we create massive sulfuric acid clouds that limit global warming
and help meet the 2015 Paris international climate goals, while reducing unintended impacts?

==========================================================================
Yes, in theory, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal
Earth System Dynamics. Spraying sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere
at different locations, to form sulfuric acid clouds that block some
solar radiation, could be adjusted every year to keep global warming at
levels set in the Paris goals.

Such technology is known as geoengineering or climate intervention.

But the regional impacts of geoengineering, including on precipitation
and the Antarctic ozone layer hole, depend on how much greenhouse
gas emissions from humanity are being reduced simultaneously. If
carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas
continue unabated, geoengineering would not prevent large decreases
in precipitation and depletion of the life-sustaining ozone layer. If
society launches massive efforts to reduce carbon emissions, remove
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and adapt to climate change, small
doses of geoengineering may help reduce the most dangerous aspects of
global warming, the study says.

"Our research shows that no single technology to combat climate change
will fully address the growing crisis, and we need to stop burning fossil
fuels and aggressively harness wind and solar energy to power society
ASAP," said co- author Alan Robock, a Distinguished Professor in the
Department of Environmental Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "This mitigation
is needed whether society ever decides to deploy geoengineering or not."
Using a climate model, scientists studied whether it's possible to create sulfuric acid clouds in the stratosphere to reflect solar radiation and
limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)
or 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial
temperatures. Those two goals were set at the 2015 United Nations climate change conference in Paris to try to reduce the negative impacts of
global warming.

Robock noted that the study was done with only one climate model that
addressed different global warming and geoengineering scenarios. Other
studies are needed to check the robustness of the results and to further examine the potential risks of any geoengineering scheme.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Rutgers_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. M. Levent Kavvas, Tongbi Tu, Ali Ercan, James Polsinelli. Fractional
governing equations of transient groundwater flow in unconfined
aquifers with multi-fractional dimensions in fractional time. Earth
System Dynamics, 2020; 11 (1): 1 DOI: 10.5194/esd-11-1-2020 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200720093238.htm

--- up 5 days, 1 hour, 54 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)