US Politicians Receive Climate Change Warning

Cut carbon emissions or our only hope to cool the planet will be relying on unproven geo-engineering ideas. This was the warning delivered to US House of Representatives by Professor John Shepherd of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK.

Professor Shepherd said: "None of the geo-engineering technologies so far suggested is a magic bullet, and all have risks and uncertainties associated with them. It is essential that we strive to cut emissions now, but we must also face the very real possibility that we will fail.”

Climate expert Professor Shepherd was invited to give evidence to the House of Representatives in November following the recent publication of a study he chaired for the Royal Society: Geoengineering the climate: Science, governance and uncertainty. This report examined a range of geo-engineering techniques that addressed the issues of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM).

None of the techniques were considered to be without risk and significant cost. Geo-engineering technologies include methods that remove greenhouse gases from atmosphere, such as engineered air capture. These address the root cause of problem and would be generally preferred, but they only act slowly and are likely to be costly. Technologies that reflect sunlight – such as small particles in the upper atmosphere – act quickly, and are relatively cheap, but have to be maintained so may not be sustainable in the long term. They also do nothing for the related CO2 problem of ocean acidification.

“If ‘Plan B’ is to be an option in the future, considerable research and development of the different methods, their environmental impacts and governance issues must be undertaken now. Used irresponsibly or without regard for possible side effects, geo-engineering could have catastrophic consequences similar to those of climate change itself. We must ensure that a governance framework is in place to prevent this,” he added.