The Environmental Defense Fund will fund research into technologies that could artificially cool the planet, an idea that until recently was seen as radical but is quickly gaining traction as global temperatures rise at alarming rates.
The group hopes to begin awarding grants this fall, said Lisa Dilling, principal scientist at EDF, who is leading the project. She said the research would focus on assessing the potential effects in different parts of the world if governments were to deploy artificial cooling technology.
The goal is to help inform policymakers, she said. “We are not in favor, period, of placement. That is not our goal here,” said Dr. Dilling. “Our goal is solid, well-formulated information and science.”
The Environmental Defense Fund has previously expressed skepticism about techniques like these. But Dr. Dilling says the debate about ways to cool the planet isn’t going away, despite the opposition. “That’s something I don’t think we can just ignore,” she said.
The group will fund what is sometimes called solar radiation modification, or solar geoengineering, which involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space. Possible techniques include injecting aerosols into the stratosphere, or brightening clouds to make them more reflective.
Researchers believe that such actions could temporarily lower global temperatures until society reduces greenhouse gas emissions by burning far fewer fossil fuels.
What they don’t know, and are trying to find out, is what other effects these actions might have. For example, would reflecting more sunlight also change rainfall patterns, or change ocean circulation patterns that affect life on land and in the sea? And if so, how?
The risk of unintended consequences is only part of what drives opposition. Opponents also say that simply talking about solar geoengineering creates a dangerous impression that quick fixes to climate change are available.
Techniques to artificially cool the earth “offer a bit of false promise, that there are things you can do that will make it easier to deal with climate change without really dealing with its root causes,” said David Santillo, a senior scientist at Greenpeace. International. “You’re getting away from focusing on where you can make a difference.”
The depth of concern with solar geoengineering research burst into the public eye last week in Alameda, California, when elected officials voted to shut down the country’s first outdoor test of a device that could one day be used to artificially cool the planet.
Researchers had built a machine designed to propel tiny aerosols of sea salt into the air and had begun testing it on the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in Alameda. Their goal was to see how those aerosols behave in different atmospheric conditions. The idea is that, in the future, versions of the device could be used to spray particles into clouds, causing them to reflect more sunlight back into space to temporarily alleviate global warming.
Alameda officials ordered the researchers to halt the experiment, citing potential health and environmental risks. The city said it would assess whether the experiment was safe.
The city manager eventually concluded that the experiment posed no threat and recommended that the City Council allow it to resume. However, on June 5, the City Council permanently banned the experiment, firing city staff members.
Many environmental groups remain skeptical of geoengineering.
“We’re already conducting a massive chemical experiment on the planet, and now you’re talking about another massive experiment,” said Patrick Drupp, director of climate policy for the Sierra Club, referring to centuries of human activity that has released huge amounts. of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. “I’m not sure if that’s the best thing we should be looking at right now.”
Another major environmental nonprofit, the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a policy document that it does not currently support solar geoengineering “due to deep uncertainties about negative side effects.” But he supports limited research programs, the paper said, in part because such research “will help avoid unfounded optimism” about the technology.
Even the Environmental Protection Fund has pointed out the dangers. The group’s own position on geoengineering says this: “Intentional climate interventions such as albedo modification should not be undertaken for the foreseeable future, as they pose serious ecological, moral and geopolitical concerns.” Albedo modification refers to changes in the amount of sunlight reflected away from the planet.
That a major environmental group like the Environmental Defense Fund is investing in solar geoengineering research sends a powerful message, said Larry Birenbaum, a partner at the LAD Climate Fund, one of the groups funding the research. He said that his group, has been urging environmentalists to pay attention to solar geoengineering for years.
“We will not convince everyone of the necessity of research,” said Mr. Birenbaum, a former senior vice president at Cisco Systems. “The climate community at large needs to be convinced, because this is borderline right now and it doesn’t deserve to be.”
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