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The controversial concept of purposely deflecting the sun’s rays to cool down an overheating Earth should be further studied, according to a group of scientists headed by James Hansen, the renowned former Nasa climate researcher.
An open letter from more than 60 scientists across the US, Canada and Europe warns that it is “increasingly unlikely” the world will remain below 2C of heating beyond pre-industrial times, due to a failure to slash greenhouse gas emissions, requiring a “rigorous, rapid scientific assessment” of previously outlandish proposals for solar geoengineering to provide rapid cooling.
The letter’s signatories include Hansen, the veteran climate scientist credited with alerting the world to the dangerous escalation of global temperature in the 1980s. While they make clear that cutting emissions is the primary priority, the scientists argue that the full ramifications of the geoengineering, also called solar radiation management (SRM), needs to be understood before it is tried in desperation by a country.
“Since decisions on whether or not to implement SRM are likely to be considered in the next one to two decades, a robust international scientific assessment of SRM approaches is needed as rapidly as possible,” the letter states.