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[November Theme Report] - Geoengineering

by Joey Wu | 06-12-2023 00:39


With climate change becoming a stronger concern each year, there have been two main approaches: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation refers to the reduction in future consequences through a reduction in carbon emissions; adaptation refers to behavior changes to directly alter current climate impacts and coexist in a changing world. 

One adaptation method is geoengineering, the concept of engineering a solution to climate change through external inputs. The two wide ranges of geoengineering are carbon engineering [removal of carbon dioxide] and solar engineering [radiation management, albedo modification, sunlight reflection]. Carbon engineering works to capture atmospheric carbon and transfer it to a stable solid source. Solar engineering works to alter the amount of solar radiation that reaches the Earth's surface.

While geoengineering is a prominent field with lots of potential, it is solution-based and does not actively address the problem of widespread fossil fuel usage. There is a strong necessity for a global reduction in fossil fuel consumption/reliance; furthermore, resources spent on improving geoengineering projects may alternatively be focused on adaptation efforts that assist current climate refugees. Although geoengineering (the idea of directly solving climate as an engineering problem) seems wonderful on paper, it does not address the root cause of the climate crisis - global warming from carbon dioxide increases. It is only through governmental policies that restrict carbon emissions that climate change can be directly impacted, even if geoengineering seems to provide an alternative solution.



Sources:
https://geoengineering.environment.harvard.edu/geoengineering#:~:text=Geoengineering%20refers%20to%20a%20set,the%20impacts%20of%20climate%20change.