Social science research to inform solar geoengineering
What are the benefits and drawbacks, and for whom?
Abstract
As the prospect of average global warming exceeding 1.5°C becomes increasingly likely, interest in supplementing mitigation and adaptation with solar geoengineering (SG) responses will almost certainly rise. For example stratospheric aerosol injection to cool the planet could offset some of the warming for a given accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases (1). However, the physical and social science literature on SG remains modest compared with mitigation and adaptation. We outline three research themes for advancing policy-relevant social science related to SG: (i) SG costs, benefits, risks, and uncertainty; (ii) the political economy of SG deployment; and (iii) SG’s role in a climate strategy portfolio.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References and Notes
1
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance (National Academies Press, 2021).
2
E. T. Burns et al., Earths Futur. 4, 536 (2016).
3
W. Smith, G. Wagner, Environ. Res. Lett. 13, 124001 (2018).
4
J. E. Aldy, R. Zeckhauser, South. Econ. J. 87, 3 (2020).
5
D. Heyen, T. Wiertz, P. J. Irvine, Clim. Change 133, 557 (2015).
6
W. Rickels et al., Energy Econ. 91, 104852 (2020).
7
K. Grieger, T. Felgenhauer, O. Renn, J. Wiener, M. Borsuk, Environ. Syst. Decis. 39, 371 (2019).
8
M. Belaia, J.B. Moreno-Cruz, D.W. Keith. Clim. Chang. Econ. 2150008 (2021).
9
D. Heyen, J. Horton, J. Moreno-Cruz, J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 95, 153 (2019).
10
A. Parker, J. B. Horton, D. W. Keith, Earths Futur. 6, 1058 (2018).
11
G. Heutel, J. Moreno-Cruz, S. Shayegh, J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 87, 24 (2018).
12
J. Emmerling, M. Tavoni, Glob. Environ. Change 53, 244 (2018).
13
S. Tilmes et al., Earth Syst. Dyn. 11, 579 (2020).
14
A. Ghosh, “Environmental Institutions, International Research Programmes, and Lessons for Geoengineering Research” in Geoengineering our Climate? Ethics, Politics, and Governance, J. J. Blackstock, S. Low, Eds. (Earthscan-Routledge, 2018).
15
C. Merk, G. Pönitzsch, K. Rehdanz, Environ. Res. Lett. 11, 054009 (2016).
(0)eLetters
eLetters is a forum for ongoing peer review. eLetters are not edited, proofread, or indexed, but they are screened. eLetters should provide substantive and scholarly commentary on the article. Embedded figures cannot be submitted, and we discourage the use of figures within eLetters in general. If a figure is essential, please include a link to the figure within the text of the eLetter. Please read our Terms of Service before submitting an eLetter.
Log In to Submit a ResponseNo eLetters have been published for this article yet.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Science
Volume 374 | Issue 6569
12 November 2021
12 November 2021
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
Submission history
Published in print: 12 November 2021
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge Resources for the Future and LAD Climate Fund for sponsoring a series of workshops in 2020 where these ideas were developed. We appreciate many useful intellectual contributions from the workshop participants. J.E.A., T.F., W.A.P., and M.T. acknowledge support from LAD Climate Fund. J.E.A., J.H., and D.K. acknowledge support from the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program. M.E.B., T.F., J.M.-C., W.A.P., and J.B.W. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under grant no. SES-1948154. J.L.R. acknowledges support from Open Philanthropy. D.K. serves on the advisory group to the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative and on the board of directors of Carbon Engineering.
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Article Usage
Altmetrics
Citations
Cite as
- Joseph E. Aldy et al.
Export citation
Select the format you want to export the citation of this publication.
Cited by
- PInc-PanTher estimates of Arctic permafrost soil carbon under the GeoMIP G6solar and G6sulfur experiments, Earth System Dynamics, 14, 1, (39-53), (2023).https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-39-2023
- Conspiracy spillovers and geoengineering, iScience, 26, 3, (106166), (2023).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106166
- Risk from responses to a changing climate, Climate Risk Management, 39, (100487), (2023).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100487
- How Negative Frames Can Undermine Public Support for Studying Solar Geoengineering in the U.S, Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, (2022).https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.850514
- Climate cooperation in the shadow of solar geoengineering: an experimental investigation of the moral hazard conjecture, Environmental Politics, 32, 2, (362-370), (2022).https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2022.2066285
- Crafting more anticipatory policy pathways, Nature Sustainability, 5, 5, (372-373), (2022).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00894-9
- Radical interventions for climate-impacted systems, Nature Climate Change, 12, 12, (1100-1106), (2022).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01542-y
- Undone science in climate interventions: Contrasting and contesting anticipatory assessments by expert networks, Environmental Science & Policy, 137, (249-270), (2022).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.08.026
- SolACE - Solar Geoengineering in an Analytic Climate Economy, SSRN Electronic Journal, (undefined).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3958821
Loading...
Media
Figures
Multimedia
Tables
Check Access
Check Access
Check Access
Log in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS Members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
- Become a AAAS Member
- Activate your AAAS ID
- Purchase Access to Other Journals in the Science Family
- Account Help
Log in via OpenAthens.
Log in via Shibboleth.
More options
Purchase digital access to this article
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
References
References
1
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance (National Academies Press, 2021).
7
K. Grieger, T. Felgenhauer, O. Renn, J. Wiener, M. Borsuk, Environ. Syst. Decis. 39, 371 (2019).
8
M. Belaia, J.B. Moreno-Cruz, D.W. Keith. Clim. Chang. Econ. 2150008 (2021).
9
D. Heyen, J. Horton, J. Moreno-Cruz, J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 95, 153 (2019).
11
G. Heutel, J. Moreno-Cruz, S. Shayegh, J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 87, 24 (2018).
14
A. Ghosh, “Environmental Institutions, International Research Programmes, and Lessons for Geoengineering Research” in Geoengineering our Climate? Ethics, Politics, and Governance, J. J. Blackstock, S. Low, Eds. (Earthscan-Routledge, 2018).
15
C. Merk, G. Pönitzsch, K. Rehdanz, Environ. Res. Lett. 11, 054009 (2016).