New Brunswick, NJ: Could we create massive sulfuric acid clouds that limit global warming and help meet the 2015 Paris international climate goals, while reducing unintended impacts?
Yes, in theory, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Earth System Dynamics. The technique of Geoengineering or climate intervention could be adjusted every year to keep global warming at levels set in the Paris goals.
The regional impacts of geoengineering, including on precipitation and the Antarctic ozone layer hole, depending on how much greenhouse gas emissions from humanity are being reduced simultaneously.
“Our research shows that no single technology to combat climate change will fully address the growing crisis, and we need to stop burning fossil fuels and aggressively harness wind and solar energy to power society ASAP,” said co-author Alan Robock, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “This mitigation is needed whether society ever decides to deploy geoengineering or not.”
Robock noted that the study was done with only one climate model that addressed different global warming and geoengineering scenarios. Other studies are needed to check the robustness of the results and to further examine the potential risks of any geoengineering scheme.
Lili Xia, a Rutgers research scientist, co-authored study. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Cornell University, University of Colorado, Boulder, Utrecht University, Delft University of Technology, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Indiana University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory contributed.
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