Geoengineering May Cool the Earth, But Cutting CO2 Emissions is Crucial

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions may not be enough to stave off climate catastrophe. That's why researchers are examining geoengineering approaches that could potentially help control the planet's climate. Now, though, scientists are urging further research into the matter before any steps are taken.

"I, for one, am concerned with the continuing rise in CO2 concentrations without clear efforts to reduce emissions," said Joyce Penner, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The widespread impacts from these increases are readily apparent, and the cost of climate change impacts is likely to be high. We may need to employ some of these climate interventions techniques to avoid a catastrophe such as the loss of the Antarctic ice sheets, or even to remain below levels of climate change that are considered dangerous in the political arena."

Techniques to remove CO2 include restoring forests and adopting low-till farming, which both trap carbon in plants and soils. In addition, oceans could be seeded with iron to promote the growth of organisms that absorb CO2. Carbon could also be sucked from the air and injected underground.

While some of these strategies should be part of a viable plan to reduce CO2, though, there are other methods that may need a bit more investigation. Scientists caution against dumping iron into oceans, for example; it's possible that environment risks may very well outweigh the benefits. In addition, sunlight reflecting approaches, known as "albedo modification," should also be avoided.

Employing some of these efforts, though, could help reduce Earth's temperature in just a few years. They're also relatively cheap when compared to transitioning to a carbon-free economy. However, they'd have to be kept up indefinitely and may have negative secondary effects.

"U.S. agencies may have been reluctant to fund this area because of the sense of what we call 'moral hazard'-that if you start down the road of doing this research you may end up relying on this or condoning this as a way of saving the planet from the cost of decreasing CO2 emissions," said Penner. "But we've stated that decreasing emissions must go hand in hand with any climate intervention efforts.

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