19 October 2021, 22:00 New York time
20 October 2021, 3:00 London time
20 October 2021, 10:00 Singapore time
Every week at this time we take a look climate change – bringing to you stories with big implications for our planet’s future. This week, we focus on GEOENGINERING: using technology to try to undo or repair the damage to our climate – on a massive scale.
Some scientists say that even with drastic cuts in CO2 emissions – preventing “catastrophic” climate change may be impossible without urgent drastic action to cool our planet right now. Projects could include:
Carbon capture
Capturing CO2 from the air or from industrial emissionsOcean fertilisation
Adding iron to oceans to boost the growth of CO2-consuming plankton.Solar geoengineering
Blocking sunlight by ‘seeding’ the upper atmosphere with reflective particles – or sending giant mirrors into space.Cloud brightening
Spraying salt from oceans into the air – creating whiter clouds that reflect more heat.Land management
Covering deserts, ice sheets and rooftops with reflective material, or genetically-modifying lighter crops that absorb less heat.But – are these massive projects realistic? And might they have unforeseen – potentially disastrous consequences? Joining me now is Gernot Wagner – the founding executive director of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Programme. He teaches climate economics at New York University and is the author of “Geoengineering: The Gamble”.