Anthropogenic climate change and countermeasures: Chances and risks of weather modification techniques and climate engineering (CE)

Abstract

There are different measures to tackle the challenge of Climate Change. This includes weather modification techniques and climate engineering (CE). Especially the application of CE is very controversial. In this connection, one has to differentiate between carbon dioxide removal (CDR) techniques and solar radiation management (SRM) techniques. According to climate experts, CDR techniques - except from the controversial CO2 sequestration and some other risky CDR techniques - interfere less aggressively into the natural environment than SRM techniques. Additionally, CDR puts on the causes of Climate Change, whereas SRM merely treats the symptoms. Apart from possible negative side effects, environmental modification techniques and CE might also be abused and have already been abused for covert weather warfare or terrorism by the deliberate aggravation or creation of extreme weather patterns and natural disasters like droughts, blizzards, floods, and storms with the intention to cause property damages, health problems, injuries, or even fatalities in certain areas or nations to harm the enemy. Although weather and climate modification for military or other hostile purposes are expressly prohibited by the UN's 1977 ENMOD Convention, this UN convention is repeatedly circumvented. In fact - additionally to the inadvertent anthropogenic climate change - deliberate anthropogenic Climate Change seems to be feasible nowadays by the use of existing technology, allowing a range of possibilities for targeted large-scale anthropogenic modification and manipulation of the weather and possibly even the climate.