Large-Scale Climate Interventions: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Solar Radiation Management

Chapter 11 explores the question: is anthropogenic climate change fixable? This exploration considers whether large-scale human interventions can mitigate the effects of human-induced increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, with a focus on two potential strategies: carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM). Both of these strategies are designed to eliminate the present imbalance in Earth’s energy budget. CDR directly offsets carbon emissions, but present technologies are not well-developed or economically feasible at the necessary scale. SRM is designed to alter Earth’s energy balance, either by reducing the amount of incoming solar radiation (e.g., by increasing the abundance of certain types of clouds) or by increasing the amount of long-wavelength radiation that escapes the atmosphere (by reducing the abundance of other types of clouds). Implementing SRM is likely to have unintended and potentially unwanted consequences on natural systems and human societies. Much more research – and consultation with potentially impacted groups – is needed before large-scale implementation of either CDR or SRM.