Model volcanoes built by middle school science students could come in handy…

The failure so far of the international community to have any real effect on carbon emissions in the face of what some are calling a climate disaster has led members of the scientific community to begin discussing other ways to respond to the effects humanity is having on the climate. The idea of geoengineering has come to the forefront of discussion in some circles.

Geoengineering is the intentional modification of the Earth’s environment to make it more suitable for human life. This is not a new concept in the study of climate change. The New York Times published an article about geoengineering in July of 2006, and Chemist and Nobel Prize Winner Paul Crutzen published an essay in August of 2006 suggesting geoengineering as a legitimate solution to global warming.

Crutzen’s suggests in his essay that the release of sulphate particles into the air could combat global warming by cooling the atmosphere. Sulphate particles are released most notably during large volcanic eruptions, such as the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, and they have been shown to cause temporary cooling in the atmosphere. Crutzen basically proposes that creating a manmade volcanic reaction to spread sulphate particles in upper levels of the atmosphere could be the solution to global warming.

While the idea of a manmade volcano might seem outrageous, this idea is now receiving a great deal of consideration from the scientific community. It seems that Crutzen’s proposed solution, as well as other theories of geoengineering are the subject of much debate. At a conference just a few weeks ago at a workshop in Wildbad-Kreuth in the Bavarian Alps, 40 scientists and engineers met to discuss whether the world should be alarmed by the idea of geoengineering. The consensus seemed to be that if even as only a last-resort option, humanity needs to begin considering geoengineering as a viable solution, and that any potentially done by geoengineering will most likely be outweighed by positive effects.

While there are certainly still a great deal of questions regarding geoengineering, this is something we may be hearing more about in the near future, if carbon emissions continue as expected.