July 27-29, 2012 • Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel

Preconference Courses: July 26-27, 2012 • Professional Members’ Forum: July 30, 2012

Climate Engineering Technologies: Current and Future Issues

Timothy Persons is chief scientist at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), will discuss GAO's recent technology assessment (GAO-11-71) entitled “Climate Engineering: Technical Status, Future Directions and Potential Responses,” Washington, D.C., USA

Ashley Mercer is a doctoral candidate at the University of Calgary doing interdisciplinary research on risk communication and decision making related to very controversial and risky technologies in climate change, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Reports of rising global temperatures have raised questions about responses to climate change, including efforts to (1) reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, (2) adapt to climate change, and (3) design and develop climate engineering technologies for deliberate, large-scale intervention in Earth's climate.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) would reduce the atmospheric concentration of CO₂, allowing more heat to escape and thus cooling the Earth. Proposed CDR technologies include enhancing the uptake of CO₂ in oceans and forests and capturing CO₂ from air chemically for storage underground. Solar radiation management (SRM) technologies would place reflective material in space or in Earth’s atmosphere to scatter or reflect sunlight (for example, by injecting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere to scatter incoming solar radiation or brightening clouds) or would increase the planet’s reflectivity (for example, by painting roofs and pavements in light colors).

Speculation about climate engineering (also known as geoengineering) dates at least to 1908, according to the Wilson Center. Because climate engineering involves intentional, large-scale interventions in the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, soils, or living systems to influence the planet’s climate, proposals for these technologies have been viewed with skepticism. However, a growing number of scientists have begun to argue that climate engineering deserves a second look.