Can We Engineer Our Way Out of Climate Change?

By: Riya Burri

As the climate change situation grows more dire, some scientists are turning to a bold idea: climate engineering. Climate engineering, also known as geoengineering, is the intentional large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climate system to counter climate change. Techniques include removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and technologies to rapidly cool the Earth by reflecting solar energy back to space.

The first technique, Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), has well-understood implementations like reforestation, but it also can involve using technologies to capture and store carbon dioxide. These machines suck carbon dioxide out of the air and store it underground. This technology is real and working, but it is currently a very expensive option.

The second technique, Solar Radiation Management (SRM), refers to technologies that reflect sunlight away from Earth to cool the planet. One way of doing this is to mimic the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions with stratospheric aerosol injection. This would involve spraying particles like sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight. However, this technique has serious risks such as disrupting weather patterns and reducing rainfall, and overall it doesn’t stop ocean acidification.

So can we really engineer our way out of climate change? These ideas are certainly ambitious, but they are also controversial. Many methods carry unknown risks or could have unintended side effects. This is why it is necessary to further understand their risks and potential benefits before they are tested in the real world. Furthermore, climate engineering will only buy us time. It doesn’t fix the root cause of climate change which is the emissions from burning fossil fuels.