Weekly Solar Geoengineering Updates (22 December - 28 December 2025)
Weekly SRM roundup of research papers, web posts, events, jobs, projects, podcasts, videos and much more.
1. This Week’s Top SRM Highlights
2. Research Papers
3. Web Posts
4. Job Opportunities
5. Upcoming Events
6. YouTube Videos
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Research Paper: Injection near the stratopause mitigates the stratospheric side effects of sulfur-based climate intervention (EGU)
News Analysis: Betting on climate failure, these investors could earn billions (E&E News by Politico)
Job Opportunity: Research Fellow in stratospheric climate modelling of solar radiation modification (University of Leeds)
Upcoming Event: Sixteenth GeoMIP 2026 Meeting by Alan Robock and Daniele Visioni (GeoMIP)
Read on to unpack more updates:
What would Aldo Leopold think about geoengineering?
Authors: Arthur R. Obst
Synopsis: As climate and biodiversity crises intensify, some environmentalists propose planetary-scale responses such as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) to cool the Earth. This article develops a novel case for SAI “for the wild,” engages Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, and applies it to solar geoengineering. Drawing on a new reading of “Thinking Like a Mountain,” it argues that from a Leopoldian perspective both the success and failure of SAI are ethically troubling, revealing a fundamental climate engineer’s dilemma.
Authors: Rawnak Miraj Ul Azam
Synopsis: This research examines the governance gap surrounding climate geoengineering, with a focus on SRM under international environmental law. It assesses existing legal instruments such as the CBD Moratorium, the London Protocol, and principles including precaution and prevention of transboundary harm. Finding the current framework fragmented and insufficient, the paper argues for a dedicated international regulatory regime to address the ethical, legal, and environmental risks of climate intervention.
Authors: Pengfei Yu, Yifeng Peng, Karen H. Rosenlof, Ru-Shan Gao, et al.
Synopsis: Conventional sulfur-based stratospheric aerosol injection at 25 km can cool the planet but causes strong tropical stratospheric warming and delays Antarctic ozone recovery. This study proposes injecting sulfur at 50 km, where circulation rapidly transports aerosols poleward. The higher-altitude approach halves tropical warming, shortens ozone recovery delays, improves cooling efficiency, enhances polar cooling, and better preserves Arctic sea ice, offering a potentially less disruptive climate intervention.
E&E News by Politico – Betting on climate failure, these investors could earn billions
Peter’s Substack – A Climate Solution Scheduled for After the Emergency
The Policy Edge – WMO Conference Calls for Global Cooperation to Govern Weather Modification Technologies
DSG – UNEA-7 and the Quiet Conversation on SRM
Independent – Out of a superhero movie: Companies are coming up with plans to block out the sun
Rolling Stone – Chemtrails Aren’t Real. So Why Are Politicians Passing Laws About Them?
Havasu News – Arizona bill would ban controversial climate-cooling method involving sunlight reflection
“The project will develop state of the art climate tools to accurately predict the dispersal and climate impact of proposed hypothetical stratospheric aerosol injection strategies. You will be working as part of an international interdisciplinary team to reduce some of the fundamental climate modelling uncertainties around solar radiation modification (SRM).”
08 January | Online - Carbon Removal Won’t Scale in Time by MEER (NEW)
30 January | Online - Could solar geoengineering help protect coral reefs? by SRM360 (NEW)
9-13 March 2026 | Kyoto, Japan - CMIP Community Workshop (CMIP26)
03-08 May | Vienna, Austria & Online - EGU26 (NEW)
13-15 May | University of Nottingham - IAA Planetary Sunshade Workshop by Planetary Sunshade Foundation
17-19 March | Tokyo, Japan - Sixteenth GeoMIP 2026 Meeting by Alan Robock and Daniele Visioni (NEW)
28 – 29 May | Belgium - International Forum on Solar Radiation Modification Research Governance by Co-Create (NEW)
20-21 June | United States - Bridging the Knowledge Gaps in Climate Engineering with Experiments, Models, and Observations by Gordon Research Seminar (NEW)
21-26 June 2026 | United States - Gordon Research Conference - Bridging Observations, Models, and Impacts in Solar Radiation Modification Research
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Moonshot Radio - Luke Iseman: Weather Hacking at Make Sunsets | Linda Du
“Who gets to control the Earth’s thermostat?
In this episode of Moonshot Radio, host @du_mplings speaks with Luke Eisman, founder of Make Sunsets, a controversial startup experimenting with solar geoengineering by releasing reflective particles into the stratosphere to cool the planet.”
Eliot Jacobson - A Climate Reality Check | MEER SRM
“In this episode of The MEER Podcast, we speak with Dr. Eliot Jacobson about what the climate data actually shows behind global summits, temperature targets, and public narratives. The conversation moves from COP outcomes to Earth’s energy imbalance, declining planetary reflectivity, polar ice trends, and the risks of underestimating the pace of warming, with a focus on clarity, evidence, and physical reality over political optimism.”
“NOAC = Nature-based Ocean and Atmospheric Cooling
This meeting reflects a community of researchers, entrepreneurs, and advocates working to advance climate cooling technologies while navigating scientific, financial, and governance challenges.
Agenda
Oswald – Infrastructure for global climate cooling
Jon – Cooling return on infrastructure investment
Sev – Nanobubbles for ocean cooling
Herb – Input for programming this year for Climate Emergency Forum
Glenn – Cost and benefits of cooling technologies – much more needed!”
Interview Leon Simons by Ulrich Hansen and Martin Wermuth from KliMainz | Climate Chat
“Ulrich Hansen and Martin Wermuth from KliMainz visited and interviewed Leon Simons in the Netherlands in the summer of 2025.
They also made a great visualization of the increasing Earth’s Energy Imbalance.”
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The weather modification activities actually happening over the USA from California to New York City has escalated exponentially from November 2024 through December 2025 yet whenever I read research papers they use words like hypothetically, potentially or possibly. Why the disconnect, it makes your activities look nefarious?