Solar radiation management srm purpose, methods and impact. Scenario planning for solar radiation management resultant insights and implications are included in this report. Pdf solar radiation management srm geoengineering is a proposed response to anthropogenic global warming agw national academy of sciences, 2015 find, read and cite all the research. Economic evaluations of solar radiation management srm usually assume that the temperature will be stabilized, with no economic impacts of climate change, but with possible sideeffects. Although solarradiation managementsrmthrough stratospheric aerosol methods has the potential to mitigate impacts of climate change, our current knowledge of stratospheric processes suggests that these methods may entail signi. Solar radiation management paul beckwith, climate system. Edf links science, economics, law and innovative privatesector partnerships. Radiation from the sun sustains life on earth and determines climate. The solar constant is the average value of solar irradiance outside the earths atmosphere, about 66 wm. Instead, the short discussion section focuses on outlining the potential utility of these scenarios and others generated using similar methods for testing whether emerging governance proposals are able to. Solar radiation management srm describes a set of geoengineering techniques that aim to counter humanmade climate change by artificially increasing the reflection of heat from sunlight solar radiation back into space. Stratospheric aerosol injection solar radiation management. Srmgi solar radiation management governance initiative is. Srm disruption risks dangerous temperature rise termination shock.
The energy flow within the sun results in a surface temperature of around 5800 k, so the spectrum of the radiation from the sun is similar to that of a 5800 k blackbody with fine structure due to absorption in the cool peripheral solar gas fraunhofer lines. A cheap but dangerous global warming fix pbs newshour. The solar radiation management governance initiative seeks to expand the global conversation around the governance of srm geoengineering research. A controversial, but cheap solution of last resort has emerged known as solar radiation management.
Pdf solar radiation management and the voluntary carbon. Nations, ngos and individuals must engage in a wideranging dialogue to explore both the potential risks and benefits of solar geoengineering and establish effective governance arrangements for research, according to a this report from an international collaboration of ngos. Reverse emissions or influence solar radiation swiss academies of. Solar radiation management srm humanity has waited too long to prevent abrupt climate change from occurring. The impact of solar radiation on earth and life is significant. The solar radiation management governance initiative is coconvened by the following organisations. Solar energy conversion and photoenergy systems vol. The term solar radiation management srm describes a set of speculative technologies that might help humanity respond to climate change. Governing solar radiation management iv about the report and its authors this report offers a detailed examination, by a team of global governance experts, of governance needs and options for solar radiation management srm technologies. Solar radiation management in 2010, irgc published an opinion paper by granger morgan cmu on the need to engage in research and some experimentation about solar radiation management srm.
Srmgi has begun, and will continue to foster, such discussion. Wald encyclopedia of life support systems eolss the amount of radiation that reaches a given point at the top of the atmosphere is governed by the specific astronomical situation of the earth on its orbit around the sun. Inaddition to the risks associated with current knowledge, the possibility of unknown unknowns exists that could signi. Some advocates have started using the term solar geoengineering but these techniques are not related to solar power. Introduction to solar radiation newport corporation. Carbon dioxide removal approaches are addressed in chapters 9, 10. Interannual monthly mean daily totals solar radiation research laboratory 19862000 global trend y 4. Stratospheric aerosol particles and solarradiation management. Solar radiation management is an important topic for the ias exams. Solar radiation management srm, on the other hand, tries to address one symptom of climate change, namely warming. What is the purpose of the solar radiation management. Technologies for solar radiation management srm are being developed in the hope that increasing the reflection of sunlight back to space may reduce some of the risks of climate change that.
There may be profound even violent disagreement on preferred temperature. A geoengineering technique, it would shoot particles into the sky to reflect sunlight back. However, it has been out of the proposal stage for quite some time, and even though. Questions decision makers are asking, or will be asking, about solar radiation management and other. As future climate changes become more severe, people might become interested in ways of offsetting the effects of humaninduced climate, which could be cheaper than measures to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Pdf despite extensive efforts, greenhouse gases continue to be emitted in vast amounts, with potentially devastating consequences around. Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks forand in ma. Solar radiation management impacts on agriculture in china. Miranda boettcher, andrew parker, stefan schafer, matthias honegger. Public understanding of solar radiation management the harvard community has made this article openly available. This perspective investigates the optimal properties of aerosol particles that might be considered for solarradiation management techniques using stratospheric particle injections. Regions in the high arctic are warming at 5 to 8 times the global average, and are destroying the delicate temperature balance between the arctic and the equator that has allowed us to have our familiar, stable climate.
In general, these strategies address the effects of global warming, but do nothing to mitigate the root cause, which is increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Solar radiation management srm or solar geoengineering is a theoretical approach to reducing some of the impacts of climate change by reflecting a small amount of inbound sunlight back out into space. Sunlight is necessary for most life on earth, but can also be damaging to humans. Irgc then narrowed its focus to solar radiation management srm. The most prominent subcategory of climate engineering is solar radiation management. Climate engineering or climate intervention, commonly referred to as geoengineering, is the deliberate and largescale intervention in the earths climate system, usually with the aim of mitigating the adverse effects of global warming. Concentrating on aircraftdelivered stratospheric aerosol injection sai, we appraise threats to. This technique aims to reduce the incidence and absorption of the suns rays by reflecting back a small portion of solar radiation.
Solar radiation management aims at limiting temperature increase by deflecting sunlight, mostly through injection of particles into the atmosphere. Climate engineering and the law edited by michael b. Solar radiation management solar radiation management geoengineering with geographically varying strengths. Jul 16, 2015 a controversial, but cheap solution of last resort has emerged known as solar radiation management. Srm has the potential to reduce some of the impacts of climate change but it could also be very risky.
Solar radiation management does not remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and thus does not reduce other effects from these gases, such as ocean acidification. We know from experiments with climate models, however, that. The report focuses on nearterm governance, outlining feasible and needed actions that. Solar radiation data manual for flatplate and concentrating. The proposals for solar radiation management srm is a form of climate engineering that would reduce global warming by reflecting uvrays of the sun. Your story matters citation mercer, a m, d w keith, and j d sharp. Public understanding of solar radiation management. Jul 12, 2019 solar radiation management srm geoengineering is a proposed response to anthropogenic global warming agw national academy of sciences, 2015. It is far easier to modify earths albedo than to determine whether it should be done or what the consequences might be of such an action. Pdf security of solar radiation management geoengineering. The solar radiation management governance initiative is coconvened by the.
Their concept is to mimic the dimming and cooling effects of a volcanic eruption and existing particulate pollution made by human activity. Pdf an economic evaluation of solar radiation management. Solar radiation is primarily electromagnetic radiation, in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Reflecting sunlight to cool earth discusses some of the social, political, and legal issues surrounding these proposed techniques. Climate models suggest that solar radiation management srm, such as by means of stratospheric aerosol injection, could counteract the warming effects of greenhouse gases, though not with total effectiveness. Solar radiation management this category of geoengineering strategies involves reflecting away some portion of incoming solar radiation in order to cool the planet. Abstract geoengineering via solar radiation management could affect agricultural productivity due to changes in temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation. Solar radiation management and the ethics of fabrication by maia galarraga and bronislaw szerszynski. To study rice and maize production changes in china, we used results from 10 climate models participating in the geoengineering model intercomparison. Many geoengineers, along with the ipcc, prefer solar radiation management methods to carbon dioxide removal as a climate fix, given the planets complex carbon feedback loops, and the much cheaper and quicker method of spraying our skies with albedoenhancing particles. Security of solar radiation management geoengineering. It is cheap, fast and imperfect, 4 citing geoengineering activist, david keith, the irgc explains that by injecting,000 tons of sulphate aerosol into the stratosphere on a daily basis, they would offset the. Pdf solar radiation management srm has been proposed as a form of geoengineering to reduce the climate effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas.
Cooling the earth through solar radiation management. Solar radiation management and its impacts internet archive. Differences between the two versions are described briefly in the appendix. It is in the early stages of research, but it is already a controversial topic. Aug 12, 2012 this perspective investigates the optimal properties of aerosol particles that might be considered for solar radiation management techniques using stratospheric particle injections. Nov 06, 20 solar radiation management has three essential characteristics, notes the international risk governance council irgc. These proposed technique would achieve this in one of a number of ways. Pdf exploring the effects of solar radiation management on. Before the industrial revolution, the main source of energy was wood and biomass, which is a secondary form of solar energy. The solar radiation data in this manual are based on the national solar radiation data base nsrdb,version 1. Technologies for solar radiation management srm are being developed in the hope that increasing the reflection of sunlight back to space may reduce some of the risks of climate change that cannot be addressed by the other main policy options. The two principal methods involve removing some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which could consume huge amounts of land and money, and take a long period of time, and reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earths surface, perhaps by spraying aerosols into the upper atmosphere from airplanes which could be done quickly but.