What is Climate Engineering? A Beginner's Guide to How it Works & the Risks Involved

Climate engineering, or geoengineering, is like Earth's thermostat—a toolset that has the potential to let us cool down the planet intentionally.

There are two main types: Solar Radiation Management (SRM) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), each tackling climate change from different angles.

SRM is like putting sunglasses on the Earth. Techniques like injecting aerosols into the stratosphere aim to reflect sunlight away, cooling the planet.

CDR is the long game, pulling CO2 right out of the air. Think of it as a planetary-scale tree, but it's technology like direct air capture doing the heavy lifting.

Ocean fertilization is another CDR method, where iron is added to oceans to boost phytoplankton growth, which, in turn, absorbs CO2.

These aren't sci-fi dreams; they're real proposals, but with a catch... They come with potential side effects that could alter weather patterns or harm ecosystems.

The ethics of climate engineering are hotly debated. Who gets to press the global thermostat button, and who deals with the consequences?

Some fear geoengineering could be a moral hazard, giving a false sense of security that could reduce efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Yet, as climate emergencies grow, these once last-resort ideas are entering serious policy discussions, weighing risks against a warming world.

Climate engineering might sound like a fix-all, but it's more of a band-aid. The real cure lies in global cooperation to reduce emissions at the source.