We have a historically unprecedented climate emergency. The planet is now heating so fast that the Paris-agreed ceiling of 1.5°C global mean temperature is liable to be reached next year and 2°C within a decade or two. This rapid heating will be boosted by Arctic meltdown: with less sunshine reflected by snow and ice, and with the release of the potent greenhouse gas, methane, from thawing permafrost. Arctic meltdown also affects the jet stream: we can expect the double-whammy of increased global heating and stuck jet stream patterns to produce ever more extreme heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. The climate crisis is indeed spiralling “out of control” (the Guardian headline on 6th October). Our only chance of seizing control, before catastrophe becomes inevitable, is through rapid, emergency cooling intervention. We owe it to the young people of today that we grasp the nettle and prepare for solar geoengineering: injecting sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere to mimic the cooling action of major volcanic eruptions. Experimental injection could even start next year: injection anywhere between 45N and 65N would safely limit the lifetime of the aerosol produced to a few months according to climate models. The risks from rapid full-scale intervention could prove tiny in comparison with the risk of leaving intervention too late to prevent catastrophic climate change for much of the world. To boot, a variety of appropriate interventions, together with a drastic cut in greenhouse gas emissions, could restore the planet to a safe, sustainable, biodiverse and productive state within the lifetimes of our young people.

We have a historically unprecedented climate emergency. The planet is now heating so fast that the Paris-agreed ceiling of 1.5°C global mean temperature is liable to be reached next year and 2°C within a decade or two. This rapid heating will be boosted by Arctic meltdown: with less sunshine reflected by snow and ice, and with the release of the potent greenhouse gas, methane, from thawing permafrost. Arctic meltdown also affects the jet stream: we can expect the double-whammy of increased global heating and stuck jet stream patterns to produce ever more extreme heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. The climate crisis is indeed spiralling “out of control” (the Guardian headline on 6th October). Our only chance of seizing control, before catastrophe becomes inevitable, is through rapid, emergency cooling intervention. We owe it to the young people of today that we grasp the nettle and prepare for solar geoengineering: injecting sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere to mimic the cooling action of major volcanic eruptions. Experimental injection could even start next year: injection anywhere between 45N and 65N would safely limit the lifetime of the aerosol produced to a few months according to climate models. The risks from rapid full-scale intervention could prove tiny in comparison with the risk of leaving intervention too late to prevent catastrophic climate change for much of the world. To boot, a variety of appropriate interventions, together with a drastic cut in greenhouse gas emissions, could restore the planet to a safe, sustainable, biodiverse and productive state within the lifetimes of our young people.

Stratospheric aerosol injection is a solar radiation management (srm) geoengineering or climate engineering approach that uses tiny reflective particles or aerosols to reflect sunlight into space in order to cool the planet and reverse or stop Global Warming. The approach involves spraying reflective sulfate aerosol particles into the stratosphere with high altitude airplanes, tethered balloons, high-altitude blimps or artillery.

Stratospheric aerosol injection is a solar radiation management (srm) geoengineering or climate engineering approach that uses tiny reflective particles or aerosols to reflect sunlight into space in order to cool the planet and reverse or stop Global Warming. The approach involves spraying reflective sulfate aerosol particles into the stratosphere with high altitude airplanes, tethered balloons, high-altitude blimps or artillery.

In an influential cli-fi novel, a desperate government ignores international consensus and pumps aerosols into the atmosphere to cool the world. Could it happen for real?

In an influential cli-fi novel, a desperate government ignores international consensus and pumps aerosols into the atmosphere to cool the world. Could it happen for real?