rfmcdonald | [LINK] "Earth needs sunblock and fast, scientist says" (Reply)

For the record, I think that geoengineering plans are necessary: counting on the resiliency of the biosphere, given that the biosphere probably can't handle the volume of pollutants we've contributed, is foolish. We need to get involved. Whether the sulphur dioxide-injection plan is a good one is another thing entirely. Still, avoiding the deterraforming of Earth is key.

As greenhouse gases accumulate, the Earth could soon need a planetary sunblock to keep from frying.

But just what that block will consist of and who will slather it on are questions that need to be urgently answered, a Canadian researcher argued Wednesday in the world's premier science journal.

"Solar-radiation management may be the only human response that can fend off rapid and high-consequence climate change impacts," University of Calgary physicist David Keith writes in Nature.

"But because there's particularly been a taboo about talking about this, there's been very little serious work done," Keith said in an interview with the Star.

The "geoengineering" of our atmosphere could involve shooting sulphur particles into the stratosphere to refract sunlight back into space, and creating low-altitude clouds using particles of sea salt.

Keith, head of the school's Energy and Environmental Systems Group, says many top climate scientists have resisted frank discussions about solar-radiation management (SRM) options because they fear such talk would stymie efforts to cut carbon emissions.

As well, Keith says, some have called it presumptuous to believe humans can responsibly and reliably control climate through the geoengineering techniques. But as climate change predictions grow ever more dire, the use of relatively rapid and cheap SRM technologies must be considered, he says.

"We believe that the risks of not doing research outweigh the risks of doing it," Keith said in Nature.