While geoengineering is a broad category that covers processes to intentionally cool the Earth’s temperature—which could even include painting buildings a certain way—the subset known as solar geoengineering or solar radiation modification drew Pielke’s concern.
Those modification techniques involve the dispensing of reflective elements such as sulfur dioxide into layers of the atmosphere to prevent the sun’s rays from reaching the Earth’s surface.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is limited understanding of these techniques, which could have an effect on the ozone layer, crop yields, rain, snowfall, and even respiratory health.
Described as an expert in climate, science, and technology policy—as well as the politicization of science and government science advice—Pielke was one of more than 500 scientists and academics from around the world calling for an international non-use agreement for solar geoengineering.
He argued that no outdoor experimentation of solar geoengineering should be allowed and that governments should work to monitor the atmosphere to track and enforce that ban.
“We have one Earth, and experimenting on it carries considerable risks,” he said in his opening remarks. “I have likened geoengineering to risky gain-of-function research on viruses with uncertain benefits and catastrophic risks.”
Pielke was joined by Christopher Martz, a meteorologist and policy analyst at the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, who also saw a need for prohibition.
“Solar geoengineering should be prohibited, given the uncertainties about climate change itself, as well as the uncertainties that geoengineering could have on both the environment and life on Earth,” Martz said in his opening statement.
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