Royal Society Launches Climate Geoengineering Study. (October 31, 2008)

The Royal Society today announced it is undertaking a new study looking at whether planetary scale geoengineering schemes could play a role in preventing the worst effects of climate change.

The chair of Royal Society working group that will undertake the study, Professor John Shepherd, said: "Some of these proposals seem fantastical, and may prove to be so. Our study aims to separate the science from the science fiction and offer recommendations on which options deserve serious consideration. We need to investigate if any of these schemes could help us avoid the most dangerous changes to our climate and to fully understand what other impacts they may have."

However, Professor Shepherd emphasised: "Whatever solutions technology may offer us in the future, it's clear that the need to cut emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is now more urgent than ever."

Some of the proposals that will be examined by the working group include:

• placing giant mirrors in space to reflect sunlight away from the Earth,

• releasing tiny particles into the upper atmosphere which could help cool the climate by reducing the amount of the sun's energy that reaches the Earth's surface,

• fertilising the oceans with nutrients, such as iron, to promote blooms of phytoplankton which would soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The Society has issued the following announcement on its Current Activities web page:

The study aims to provide a balanced assessment of a range of different climate geoengineering proposals, assessing their feasibility, efficacy, likely environmental impacts, and any possible unintended consequences.

We are seeking the views of academics, policymakers, industrialists and other interested parties to inform our study. Organisations and individuals are invited to contribute to the study by responding to our call for submissions by Thursday 11 December.

The Royal Society has set up a working group to assess the submissions received, and evaluate the different proposals for climate geoengineering. The group is expected to report on its findings in the summer of 2009.

Geoengineering climate: call for submissions

Geoengineering climate: press release

Geoengineering climate: working group membership