As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists are exploring Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) as a way to cool the Earth through reflecting sunlight away from the surface. A new article in the Oxford Open Climate Change calls for a comprehensive international assessment of SAI’s potential impacts, risks and benefits. The authors propose a framework that integrates both natural and social sciences with the goal of ensuring that future research is inclusive, especially of underrepresented regions like the Global South, and aligned with shared ethical and governance standards. The proposed approach would use satellite data and ground-based measurements to monitor atmospheric changes and detect the effects of SAI, which is critical for planning safe implementation. This work is essential for guiding informed decisions on whether and how to use SAI as a climate intervention strategy.
Author Michael Diamond of Florida State University contributed to this work with the support of a grant from the Climate Program Office’s Earth’s Radiation Budget (ERB), Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Cycle and Climate (AC4), and Climate Variability & Predictability (CVP) programs to study new applications of satellite data to aerosol research. ERB also supports Ewa Bednarz (CSL/CIRES) for SAI-related research.
Read the National Center for Atmospheric Research press release »
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