Solar radiation management this category of geoengineering strategies involves reflecting away some portion of incoming solar radiation in order to cool the planet. Public understanding of solar radiation management. Some advocates have started using the term solar geoengineering but these techniques are not related to solar power. Your story matters citation mercer, a m, d w keith, and j d sharp. The solar radiation management governance initiative is coconvened by the. Nov 06, 20 solar radiation management has three essential characteristics, notes the international risk governance council irgc. Many geoengineers, along with the ipcc, prefer solar radiation management methods to carbon dioxide removal as a climate fix, given the planets complex carbon feedback loops, and the much cheaper and quicker method of spraying our skies with albedoenhancing particles. A cheap but dangerous global warming fix pbs newshour. The two principal methods involve removing some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which could consume huge amounts of land and money, and take a long period of time, and reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earths surface, perhaps by spraying aerosols into the upper atmosphere from airplanes which could be done quickly but.
Solar radiation management and its impacts internet archive. The solar radiation data in this manual are based on the national solar radiation data base nsrdb,version 1. A controversial, but cheap solution of last resort has emerged known as solar radiation management. Pdf an economic evaluation of solar radiation management. Before the industrial revolution, the main source of energy was wood and biomass, which is a secondary form of solar energy. These proposed technique would achieve this in one of a number of ways. Pdf security of solar radiation management geoengineering. Solar energy conversion and photoenergy systems vol. It is cheap, fast and imperfect, 4 citing geoengineering activist, david keith, the irgc explains that by injecting,000 tons of sulphate aerosol into the stratosphere on a daily basis, they would offset the. In general, these strategies address the effects of global warming, but do nothing to mitigate the root cause, which is increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The proposals for solar radiation management srm is a form of climate engineering that would reduce global warming by reflecting uvrays of the sun. Solar radiation management srm, on the other hand, tries to address one symptom of climate change, namely warming.
Differences between the two versions are described briefly in the appendix. The solar radiation management governance initiative seeks to expand the global conversation around the governance of srm geoengineering research. Economic evaluations of solar radiation management srm usually assume that the temperature will be stabilized, with no economic impacts of climate change, but with possible sideeffects. Pdf despite extensive efforts, greenhouse gases continue to be emitted in vast amounts, with potentially devastating consequences around. Pdf solar radiation management srm has been proposed as a form of geoengineering to reduce the climate effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Solar radiation management describes a suite of proposed technologies that aim to reflect sunlight back into space before it warms the earths climate. Climate engineering or climate intervention, commonly referred to as geoengineering, is the deliberate and largescale intervention in the earths climate system, usually with the aim of mitigating the adverse effects of global warming.
We know from experiments with climate models, however, that. Inaddition to the risks associated with current knowledge, the possibility of unknown unknowns exists that could signi. Solar radiation data manual for flatplate and concentrating. Carbon dioxide removal approaches are addressed in chapters 9, 10. This perspective investigates the optimal properties of aerosol particles that might be considered for solarradiation management techniques using stratospheric particle injections. Solar radiation management, geoengineering and chemtrails. Public understanding of solar radiation management the harvard community has made this article openly available. Abstract geoengineering via solar radiation management could affect agricultural productivity due to changes in temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation. Miranda boettcher, andrew parker, stefan schafer, matthias honegger. Srmgi has begun, and will continue to foster, such discussion. Environmental defense fund, a leading us nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. Wald encyclopedia of life support systems eolss the amount of radiation that reaches a given point at the top of the atmosphere is governed by the specific astronomical situation of the earth on its orbit around the sun. It is far easier to modify earths albedo than to determine whether it should be done or what the consequences might be of such an action. Concentrating on aircraftdelivered stratospheric aerosol injection sai, we appraise threats to.
The ethics of solar radiation management discusses the ethical issues associated with deliberately engineering a cooler climate to combat global warming. The report focuses on nearterm governance, outlining feasible and needed actions that. Pdf exploring the effects of solar radiation management on. Solar radiation management srm or solar geoengineering is a theoretical approach to reducing some of the impacts of climate change by reflecting a small amount of inbound sunlight back out into space. Security of solar radiation management geoengineering. Reflecting sunlight to cool earth discusses some of the social, political, and legal issues surrounding these proposed techniques.
Climate engineering and the law edited by michael b. Solar radiation is primarily electromagnetic radiation, in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Srm disruption risks dangerous temperature rise termination shock. Solar radiation management in 2010, irgc published an opinion paper by granger morgan cmu on the need to engage in research and some experimentation about solar radiation management srm. What is the purpose of the solar radiation management. It is in the early stages of research, but it is already a controversial topic. Solar radiation management paul beckwith, climate system. Reverse emissions or influence solar radiation swiss academies of. The solar constant is the average value of solar irradiance outside the earths atmosphere, about 66 wm. There may be profound even violent disagreement on preferred temperature. Governing solar radiation management iv about the report and its authors this report offers a detailed examination, by a team of global governance experts, of governance needs and options for solar radiation management srm technologies. Edf links science, economics, law and innovative privatesector partnerships. Solar radiation management is an important topic for the ias exams.
Jul 16, 2015 a controversial, but cheap solution of last resort has emerged known as solar radiation management. Aug 12, 2012 this perspective investigates the optimal properties of aerosol particles that might be considered for solar radiation management techniques using stratospheric particle injections. This technique aims to reduce the incidence and absorption of the suns rays by reflecting back a small portion of solar radiation. A geoengineering technique, it would shoot particles into the sky to reflect sunlight back.
The solar radiation management governance initiative is coconvened by the following organisations. Although solarradiation managementsrmthrough stratospheric aerosol methods has the potential to mitigate impacts of climate change, our current knowledge of stratospheric processes suggests that these methods may entail signi. Solar radiation management impacts on agriculture in china. Nations, ngos and individuals must engage in a wideranging dialogue to explore both the potential risks and benefits of solar geoengineering and establish effective governance arrangements for research, according to a this report from an international collaboration of ngos. Their concept is to mimic the dimming and cooling effects of a volcanic eruption and existing particulate pollution made by human activity. Irgc then narrowed its focus to solar radiation management srm. Scenario planning for solar radiation management resultant insights and implications are included in this report.
Instead, the short discussion section focuses on outlining the potential utility of these scenarios and others generated using similar methods for testing whether emerging governance proposals are able to. The most prominent subcategory of climate engineering is solar radiation management. Solar radiation management and the ethics of fabrication by maia galarraga and bronislaw szerszynski. Interannual monthly mean daily totals solar radiation research laboratory 19862000 global trend y 4. Technologies for solar radiation management srm are being developed in the hope that increasing the reflection of sunlight back to space may reduce some of the risks of climate change that cannot be addressed by the other main policy options. Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks forand in ma. Sunlight is necessary for most life on earth, but can also be damaging to humans. Introduction to solar radiation newport corporation. Pdf solar radiation management and the voluntary carbon. Srmgi solar radiation management governance initiative is. Regions in the high arctic are warming at 5 to 8 times the global average, and are destroying the delicate temperature balance between the arctic and the equator that has allowed us to have our familiar, stable climate.
Questions decision makers are asking, or will be asking, about solar radiation management and other. Srm has the potential to reduce some of the impacts of climate change but it could also be very risky. Radiation from the sun sustains life on earth and determines climate. Pdf solar radiation management srm geoengineering is a proposed response to anthropogenic global warming agw national academy of sciences, 2015 find, read and cite all the research. Solar radiation management aims at limiting temperature increase by deflecting sunlight, mostly through injection of particles into the atmosphere. Solar radiation management srm humanity has waited too long to prevent abrupt climate change from occurring.
However, it has been out of the proposal stage for quite some time, and even though. Cooling the earth through solar radiation management. The term solar radiation management srm describes a set of speculative technologies that might help humanity respond to climate change. The impact of solar radiation on earth and life is significant. Solar radiation management srm describes a set of geoengineering techniques that aim to counter humanmade climate change by artificially increasing the reflection of heat from sunlight solar radiation back into space.
Solar radiation management solar radiation management geoengineering with geographically varying strengths. Technologies for solar radiation management srm are being developed in the hope that increasing the reflection of sunlight back to space may reduce some of the risks of climate change that. Stratospheric aerosol particles and solarradiation management. Climate models suggest that solar radiation management srm, such as by means of stratospheric aerosol injection, could counteract the warming effects of greenhouse gases, though not with total effectiveness. Solar radiation management does not remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and thus does not reduce other effects from these gases, such as ocean acidification. As future climate changes become more severe, people might become interested in ways of offsetting the effects of humaninduced climate, which could be cheaper than measures to cut carbon dioxide emissions. To study rice and maize production changes in china, we used results from 10 climate models participating in the geoengineering model intercomparison. Stratospheric aerosol injection solar radiation management. Solar radiation management srm purpose, methods and impact.
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