CIAO DATE: 08/2013
May 2013
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have long dominated public discourse about responses to man-made climate change. However, major institutional and political hurdles dim future prospects for controlling emissions. While adaptation to climate change can accomplish much, flawed institutions are likely to limit its efficacy. Solar radiation management (SRM) appears to promise at least some capacity to offset the warming caused by the rising atmospheric GHG concentrations. SRM would seek to enhance and manage physical processes that currently reflect sunlight back into space. For example, most researchers have envisioned implementing this concept by adding to the layer of sulfuric acid that is already present in the lower stratosphere. All else remaining equal, global mean temperatures would fall even though GHG levels would not; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that physical processes such as these already offset about 40 percent of global warming. By lessening the rise in temperature, SRM might lessen some of the risks of global warming. Recent technical developments have advanced our understanding of important aspects of SRM. First, the regional impacts of SRM will be variable and these differences are likely to become a source of disagreement regarding SRM deployment. Second, given the uncertainties about SRM technologies, there is a pressing need for research and development funding. Third, in contrast to GHG control, SRM may offer a cost-effective way of managing the risk of crossing climate tipping points.
Resource link: Solar radiation management: An evolving climate policy option [PDF]