Understanding future Climate Intervention strategies through climate modelling
Daniele Visioni (Cornell EAS)
More and more, citizens, businesses and governments are perceiving the detrimental impacts of human-induced global warming on infrastructures, food sources and populations. As impacts mount, so do calls to act against such risks. Together with mitigation and adaptation, more focus is been given to more direct Climate Intervention strategies that might ameliorate impacts, either by directly reducing CO₂ concentrations (Carbon Dioxide Removal) or by affecting the planetary energy balance through a reduction in incoming sunlight (Solar Radiation Modification, SRM). In this talk I will discuss how the scientific community is investigating SRM, and in particular Stratospheric Aerosol Injections (SAI) focusing on understanding sources of uncertainties by bridging the gap between the very small (aerosol microphysics and chemistry) and the very large (regional precipitation patterns, ecosystems behavior) through the use of increasingly sophisticated climate models, as well as by narrowing down a potentially infinite space of scenarios when considering the complexities of human behavior and international politics.