Can geoengineering contribute to a solution to climate change?

Arabia Weather - The issue of climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world in the twenty-first century, as climate change depends mainly on the increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, which causes an increase in temperatures and negative environmental and economic impacts, and global efforts have come together to reduce Emissions of these gases, enhancing sustainability, and searching for positive solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Geological engineering and changing climate patterns

Geoengineering: It is a group of techniques and measures that are used to intervene in the geological environment for the purpose of achieving certain effects. One possible approach to dealing with climate change is the use of geoengineering and the effects it achieves. So what are the effects of climate change and what effects does geoengineering cause?

The effects of climate change on the world

The effects of climate change are causing significant damage to our environment and habitats around the world, with the weather pattern undergoing serious changes, and just this year, we have witnessed the devastating repercussions of climate change through the occurrence of hurricanes, floods, droughts and wildfires, and their severity is expected to increase in the future.

Over the past few years, many international conferences have been held on climate change. Warnings have been issued by current and former UN secretaries-general that we are heading towards disaster. The United Nations and other global environmental agencies have also issued reports warning that the situation will not continue as it is. The problem is that... Factories with polluting emissions take adequate measures to reduce carbon emissions.

For your information, the dangers of carbon emissions were early alerted in 1965 by a team of experts, but their suggestions did not receive enough attention, and things actually depend on huge amounts of greenhouse gases that have accumulated in the atmosphere, which has led to a rise in the temperature of the planet.

Therefore, even if carbon emissions are reduced, drastic climate changes will continue.

The impact of geoengineering on climate change

Sunlight management

One innovative approach that has been studied to address this problem is engineering geology. One exciting technology is managing solar radiation by injecting polluting particles into the stratosphere, which in turn contributes to reflecting sunlight and cooling the temperature of the planet. Although there are potential risks, the benefits are The potential risks outweigh these risks, and these efforts must be accompanied by strict monitoring and evaluation systems to reduce side effects.

Potential risks of solar radiation management

Although such tests aimed at managing solar radiation would be designed to determine how effective they are at reflecting the sun's brightness to cool the planet, the experiments themselves could lead to irreversible damage, as current models suggest that deploying solar radiation management technologies could lead to Changes in global rainfall patterns, could cause damage to the ozone layer, and could put the livelihoods of millions of people at risk.

Storing carbon dioxide underground

The issue of underground carbon dioxide storage and similar topics raise big questions about the climate engineering technology available for discussion, known as carbon dioxide removal. Proponents of these technologies propose removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it underground, or in the oceans.

Potential risks of storing carbon dioxide underground

However, some carbon dioxide removal methods have already been banned due to concerns about potential environmental consequences. For example, the fertilization of the oceans by plankton capable of sequestering carbon was banned under the London Protocol on Marine Pollution in 2008. Parties have indicated The issuer of the decision is concerned about the potential effects on the marine environment.

Furthermore, bioenergy and carbon dioxide removal methods are required to meet the emissions limits set in the Paris Agreement, requiring the cultivation of between 430 million and 580 million hectares of the necessary vegetation, representing a third of global arable land.

Bioenergy with carbon dioxide removal

Although there is a trend towards using bioenergy sources to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, these efforts face significant challenges. One of the main ideas proposed for discussion aims to combine biomass with carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies. This idea is known as “energy Biotechnology with CO2 Removal" , where the CO2 absorption capabilities of fast-growing plants are sought to be combined with techniques for underground CO2 storage.

Potential risks of using bioenergy with carbon dioxide removal

But as with any engineering technology, challenges remain. Processes related to bioenergy and carbon dioxide removal require large amounts of energy, water and chemicals to succeed.

These efforts could have negative side effects, such as loss of biodiversity, increased competition for land, and displacement of local populations, and some projections even suggest that land clearing and construction associated with these projects may increase gas emissions that contribute to global warming in the near term.

There is also the problem of size, as achieving the goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement requires a huge area of land, estimated at between 430 million and 580 million hectares (equivalent to 1.1 billion to 1.4 billion acres) to grow the necessary plants. This represents a third of the world's available agricultural land.

How can we build an effective discussion about geoengineering?

First of all, we should carefully re-evaluate the current situation; Whereas in 2010, an international agreement was reached within the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity banning climate-related geoengineering. However, currently, under strong pressure coming from supporters of geotechnology, the official ban becomes insufficient, and in this context, the world must As a whole, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the London Protocol are a critical starting point for these management discussions.

We have not yet reached a magic solution that can change the changing reality of the climate. Despite the great ambition of geoengineering technologies, there are proven mitigation options that can be implemented effectively. These options include expanding reliance on renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels. (including early transition from existing fossil fuel infrastructure) , promoting sustainable agroecology, and increasing energy and resource efficiency in our economies.

The truth is that we do not have the opportunity to manipulate the future of our planet, and if we engaged in a serious discussion about sustainable and socially just environmental measures to protect the Earth's climate, we would no longer need to rely on geotechnology as a primary option.

Also know:

Definition of climate change and the causes of climate change

Climate change and its repercussions: What is happening to the world and why should we care about it?

Sources:

aljazeera

raialyoum