Research project Can aerosol-induced cloud brightening be used to mitigate the effects of global warming?
Failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to avoid severe consequences of climate change has motivated ideas for deliberate climate intervention. This raises questions at the intercept of physical science, ethics and governance.
Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) is a suggested means for deliberate climate intervention, to temporarily counteract the global warming caused by increasing greenhouse effect. Assessing its feasibility requires integration of physical climate science with ethics and policy.
In this interdisciplinary project, we will study cross-cutting topics that each requires knowledge and methods from climate science, philosophy and political science:
-To what degree can climate model experiments substitute outdoor experiments to enhance scientific understanding of MCB?
-How can risks associated with MCB be evaluated against risks associated with climate change without MCB?
-What might be the causes and effects of individual actors implementing MCB at a stage where knowledge is limited and regulatory frameworks are not in place?
The synthesis of the knowledge gained will help address the question of feasibility of MCB, taking physical, ethical and societal perspectives into account.