https://london-nerc-dtp.org/2019/09/25/the-aridity-drought-and-biodiversity-impacts-of-solar-geoengineering/
The aridity, drought and biodiversity impacts of Solar Geoengineering Theme: Earth, Atmosphere & Ocean Processes More PhD Projects Primary Supervisor: Peter Irvine Earth Sciences, UCL Peter Irvine has not set a profile picture Secondary Supervisor: Tim Newbold Genetics, Evolution and Environment, UCL Tim Newbold's Profile Picture Additional Supervisor(s): Julienne Stroeve (UCL) Project Description: Stratospheric aerosol geoengineering is a proposal to create a global layer of aerosol particles which would reflect a small fraction of incoming light back to space. We know from observing the effects of major volcanic eruptions that this could cool the Earth substantially but that it would also have a significant impact on the hydrological cycle. In this PhD project, you will evaluate the hydrological impacts of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering on society and ecosystems. You will evaluate drought and aridity changes from a range of different perspectives: meteorological (how much precipitation is there?), hydrological (how much river run off is there?), and agro-ecological (how is vegetation faring?). You will assess these hydrological changes using output from the latest generation of climate models and in offline land model simulations. Most projections of the biodiversity impacts of climate change take only a meteorological perspective on climate change, focusing on temperature and precipitation alone, an assumption that may perform poorly for stratospheric aerosol geoengineering scenarios. By considering a broader set of perspectives on aridity, you would also be able to make improved projections of the biodiversity impacts of climate change and stratospheric aerosol geoengineering. Policy Impact of Research: To make informed policy decisions on solar geoengineering will require understanding its risks and benefits. This PhD project would advance our understanding of the hydrological impacts of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering on society and ecosystems, which are a key uncertainty. Communicating these findings could have a substantial policy impact. Research Relating to this Project: Irvine et al. (2016): “An overview of the Earth system science of solar geoengineering” Irvine (2018): “Less rain but still wetter and greener?” Newbold (2018): “Future effects of climate and land-use change on terrestrial vertebrate community diversity under different scenarios”, :) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAJ3C-06Hue%2B2ob5PaKxQnnvdZP%2BRAXQDiT_jx9m9Oh_DXnhxbQ%40mail.gmail.com.
