Geoengineering refers to proposals to "manipulate the planetary environment" (thank you Wikipedia) for purposes of mitigating climate change. Not all geoengineering proposals are global in scale. They range from sun shields in space to ocean fertilization to large-scale carbon storage to ocean going cloud generation vessels. My personal "favorite" is nanotechnology aimed at changing the planet's albedo, thus reflecting more sunlight and reducing climate change. Yikes!
A couple of key geoengineering points. First, these technologies are aimed at countering the temperature effects associated with climate change. They don't address the huge problem of ocean acidification as more and more CO2 is pushed into the oceans from the atmosphere.
Second, it is quite possible we will end up deploying such technologies as climate change begins to bite. Whether we will do so in a rational way, as opposed to in an emegency response way without adequate forethought, is an open question. A lot of really good risk assessment work should happen first!
Some of the biggest challenges with these technologies are not really technology in nature. Who will deploy the technologies? A global government of some kind? Or individual countries running around on their own (and trying to favor their small part of the planetary surface perhaps?).
Geoengineering refers to proposals to "manipulate the planetary environment" (thank you Wikipedia) for purposes of mitigating climate change. Not all geoengineering proposals are global in scale. They range from sun shields in space to ocean fertilization to large-scale carbon storage to ocean going cloud generation vessels. My personal "favorite" is nanotechnology aimed at changing the planet's albedo, thus reflecting more sunlight and reducing climate change. Yikes!
A couple of key geoengineering points. First, these technologies are aimed at countering the temperature effects associated with climate change. They don't address the huge problem of ocean acidification as more and more CO2 is pushed into the oceans from the atmosphere.
Second, it is quite possible we will end up deploying such technologies as climate change begins to bite. Whether we will do so in a rational way, as opposed to in an emegency response way without adequate forethought, is an open question. A lot of really good risk assessment work should happen first!
Some of the biggest challenges with these technologies are not really technology in nature. Who will deploy the technologies? A global government of some kind? Or individual countries running around on their own (and trying to favor their small part of the planetary surface perhaps?).