Standardizing experiments in geoengineering

Abstract

GeoMIP Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Workshop; New Brunswick, New Jersey, 10-12 February 2011; The term "geoengineering" refers to deliberate large-scale anthropogenic modification of the climate. The most frequently discussed type of geoengineering, using socalled solar radiation management (SRM) to counteract global warming, has been to try to create a stratospheric aerosol cloud to reflect solar radiation. Stratospheric aerosols have the potential to cool the planet within a few years, as demonstrated by large natural volcanic eruptions. If a stratospheric aerosol layer could be maintained artificially, it could reduce or reverse some of the impacts of climate change, such as ice sheet melting, sea level rise, and thawing of permafrost.