November 26, 2014

geoengineering: can it help combat climate change?

The first UK funded research projects on geoengineering are about to finish. The findings of all three projects are to be launched at a conference at the Royal Society on 26 November 2014.

SPICE has looked at Solar Radiation Management, which involves offsetting the effects of greenhouse gas increases.  It focused on aerosol injection using volcanoes as a model.

IAGP is the UK’s first interdisciplinary research study into the controversial issue of geoengineering. It has brought together a range of expertise, from climate modelling to philosophy, engineering and public perceptions, to assess geoengineering within wider societal values.  IAGP researchers have conducted workshops with the public and stakeholders in 5 UK cities and performed detailed modelling to simulate 7 individual technologies.

CGG has researched the ethical, legal, social and geopolitical implications of a range of geoengineering approaches, building on the foundations of the Oxford Principles on Geoengineering Governance.

The principal investigators from each project came to the SMC to discuss the conclusions of their work and whether they see a place for geoengineering in a warming world.

Speakers:

Prof Piers Forster, Professor of Climate Change at the University of Leeds and Principal Investigator, IAGP

Prof Steve Rayner, Director of the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at the University of Oxford and Principal Investigator, CGG

Dr Matthew Watson, Reader in Natural Hazards at the University of Bristol and Principal Investigator, SPICE