https://www.proquest.com/openview/990677e1c96e1960a286ccc886aac504/1
GOVERNANCE OF GEOENGINEERING: A GLOBAL ISSUE IN SEARCH OF A GLOBAL SOLUTION Ruth, Matt <https://www.proquest.com/indexinglinkhandler/sng/au/Ruth,+Matt/$N> Dumping iron particles into the open ocean; spraying reflective aerosols from a set of balloons into the atmosphere-these ideas may sound benign, but they are examples of attempts to experiment with geoengineering. Geoengineering involves making deliberate, large-scale changes to the Earth's environment and covers a broad range of technologies. Proposed geoengineering technologies fall into two broad categories: (1) methods for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, also known as carbon sequestration; and (2) methods for reducing the amount of sunlight trapped as heat by the atmosphere. The use of geoengineering is discussed in the context of climate change as a way to mitigate the damaging effects of carbon dioxide release and help protect civilization from the worst of climate changes effects. The technologies that fit the definition of geoengineering1 range from spacebased mirrors reflecting sunlight before it reaches Earth, to more easily achieved methods like dumping iron into the ocean to trigger algal growth, as mentioned above. Ideally, releasing iron into the ocean leads to the growth of algae, which in turn absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. However, it may also lead to dangerous algal blooms that release toxins into the surrounding ocean, harming both humans and wildlife. Spraying reflective small particles as an aerosol into the atmosphere was planned to gather experimental data on what is seen as one of the most practical ways we could currently lower the amount of sunlight entering Earth's atmosphere. These small particles can reflect sunlight back into space, mitigating climate change by reducing the amount of solar energy reaching Earth's surface. However, these experiments were halted, in part, because researchers grew concerned about the lack of oversight and risk associated with an untested method for slowing the climate damage from CO2 emissions. -- 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 geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAKSzgpZMZaEG7UwLZOODXCj66c1SXWf_G2sV4RHJ8huKu9vpVw%40mail.gmail.com.
