Subscribe now

Environment

Is solar geoengineering research having its moment?

There is more research than ever focused on reflecting sunlight away from the planet to cool the climate – but there are still far more questions than answers about the effects

By James Dinneen

20 December 2024

Particles in ship exhaust inadvertently cause cloud brightening – some geoengineering projects would try to recreate this effect

NASA’s Earth Obervatory

How would the world react if one country launched a solar geoengineering project to cool the planet without the permission of others? Would the sky change colour based on the type of particles injected into the upper atmosphere? Even if global average temperatures cooled in response, how would rainfall change over Africa? These are just some of the questions about solar geoengineering scientists grappled with at a December meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington DC, and they…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox! We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, subscribe today with our introductory offers