The Time for Abatement Alone Is Passing Us By — Should Humanity Consider Geoengineering?

Author
Arunabha Ghosh - Council on Energy, Environment, and Water
Edward A. Parson - UCLA Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
Cynthia Scharf - C2G2/Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative
Simone Tilmes - National Center for Atmospheric Research
Current Issue
Volume
35
Issue
6
The Time for Abatement Alone Is Passing Us By — Should Humanity Consider Geoengi

Scientists around the world have begun to hedge their bets and not count on society’s decarbonizing in time to avoid disruption to the Earth’s climate. Enter a once-taboo topic shunned by greens and governments alike — geoengineering, a suite of suggested technological remedies to solve the climate crisis or at least buy humanity more time to rid its energy and agricultural systems of greenhouse gas emissions.

Is geoengineering necessary? What techniques will be the most successful while minimizing downside risks? And who will answer these questions and begin any needed interventions in the Earth’s climate system?