Weekly Solar Geoengineering Updates (02 February - 08 February 2026)
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. Reports
4. Web Posts
5. Upcoming Events
6. Job Opportunities
7. YouTube Videos
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Research Paper: South America monsoon lifecycle under SAI and no-SAI scenarios in a warming world (IOP Science)
Report: Climate Intervention at High Latitudes: A 2030 Security Scenario (The Council on Strategic Risks)
Monthly News Brief: Monthly Solar Geoengineering Updates (January’2026) (Solar Geoengineering Updates)
Report: A Nordic Perspective on AMOC Tipping - Impacts and Strategies for Prevention and Governance (Nordic Council of Ministers)
Analysis: Solar geoengineering comes at a cost (New Scientist)
Upcoming Event: Cooling the Planet from Space: The Promise of Geoengineering (University of Nottingham)
Video: How Do We Get SAI Right?: Risks, Research, and the Route Forward (Roots of Progress Institute)
Event Recording: Risks of Termination Shock with Francisco Estrada (Climate Chat)
Read on to unpack more updates:
South America monsoon lifecycle under SAI and no-SAI scenarios in a warming world
Authors: João Gabriel Martins Ribeiro, Michelle Simões Reboita and Daniele Visioni
This study evaluate how well CMIP6 models reproduce the South American Monsoon (SAM) lifecycle and intensity against observations (1995–2015), then project future changes under warming scenarios and a Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) case. Models capture key rainfall patterns and onset gradients. Warming scenarios show a robust late-century delay in monsoon onset, modest demise shifts, and a shortened rainy season. In contrast, SAI largely preserves historical timing but does not restore monsoon intensity.
Authors: Warren P. Smith, Simone Tilmes, Benjamin Gaubert, et al.
Synopsis: This study quantifies how declining anthropogenic SO₂ emissions over China (2010–2020) affect sulfate aerosol (SO₄) concentrations using an Earth system model with two aerosol schemes. Updated emissions improve agreement with aircraft observations from the Asian summer monsoon. Results show >20% SO₄ reductions at 200 hPa over the North Pacific and >7% at 100 hPa across the tropics, increasing global net radiative forcing by ~0.10–0.15 W m⁻², with stronger regional effects.
Authors: Milani Alessandro, Dessi Federica, Bonaiuto Marino
Synopsis: This study examines the social-psychological drivers shaping public acceptance of renewable energy and geoengineering technologies. Using path and psychometric network analyses, it finds that personal and social norms strongly influence acceptance directly and via perceived acceptability, while affective risk–benefit responses shape support and willingness to use or pay. Geoengineering acceptance hinges on perceived necessity, whereas renewables trigger more complex emotional and evaluative responses.
Authors: Andrin Jörimann, Timofei Sukhodolov, Simone Tilmes, et al.
Synopsis: This CCMI-2022 multi-model study assesses SAI impacts on ozone using a common aerosol forcing across five chemistry–climate models. All models show modest global ozone losses (≤~10 DU) over three decades and similar redistribution patterns despite differing stratospheric heating. Robust responses include changes in halogen and nitrogen chemistry and a strengthened Brewer–Dobson circulation, with nonlinear chemistry–dynamics feedbacks highlighting key model uncertainties.
Nordic Co-operation - A Nordic Perspective on AMOC Tipping - Impacts and Strategies for Prevention and Governance
The Council on Strategic Risks - Climate Intervention at High Latitudes: A 2030 Security Scenario
Solar Geoengineering Updates – Monthly Solar Geoengineering Updates (January’2026)
Joshua Horton – Three reasons why we shouldn’t frame geoengineering as a security issue
KPCW – Utah senator reintroduces bill to address chemtrail conspiracy theory
New Scientist – Solar geoengineering comes at a cost
DSG – Ocean Governance at the Edge of Climate Risk: Lessons from Bermuda
DW – Why scientists warn of privately funded geoengineering
Antik Plovdiv – Termination Shock Risks Escalating the Economic Toll of Climate Change
MSN – Scientists launch bold Great Barrier Reef experiment: “Why wouldn’t we?”
11 February | United States - C4E PJAC: PLAN C for CIVILIZATION Screening
12 February | University of Cambridge, UK - What can Scientists do for the climate? by Centre for Climate Repair (NEW)
19 February | University of Nottingham, UK - Cooling the Planet from Space: The Promise of Geoengineering (NEW)
9-13 March 2026 | Kyoto, Japan - CMIP Community Workshop (CMIP26)
03-08 May | Vienna, Austria & Online - EGU26
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
18 March | University of Cambridge - Climate Repair: Hope or Hype? by Centre for Climate Repair
28 – 29 May | Belgium - International Forum on Solar Radiation Modification Research Governance by Co-Create
02-04 June | Rwanda - The IAF Global Space Conference on Climate Change 2026 - Uniting Space and Earth for Climate Resilience
20-21 June | United States - Bridging the Knowledge Gaps in Climate Engineering with Experiments, Models, and Observations by Gordon Research Seminar
21-26 June 2026 | United States - Gordon Research Conference - Bridging Observations, Models, and Impacts in Solar Radiation Modification Research
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Research Fellow in Earth System Modelling at University of Leeds
“University of Leeds is seeking a postdoctoral research scientist to work within the ARIA-funded, multi-centre project PROMOTE (Progressing Earth System Modelling for Tipping Point Early Warning Systems). The successful candidate will join the UKESM core team, contributing to the development, evaluation, and application of a new hybrid-resolution version of the 2nd UK Earth system model (UKESM2). The key aim of PROMOTE is to develop and apply a high-resolution ESM to investigate the risks, consequences, and potential interactions between abrupt changes in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre (SPG) and the Greenland ice sheet. The resulting modelling system may act as an early-warning system for abrupt change in both phenomena.”
Next Nature: Engineering the Biosphere | Roots of Progress Institute
“Climate change is altering the conditions that wild ecosystems - forests, oceans, reefs, and more - are adapted to. Even in a best case climate scenario, conditions are changing faster than evolution can keep up. To keep a vibrant “wild” biosphere, humanity’s only choice is to intervene to accelerate the adaptation and evolution of these ecosystems. This talk covers both the why and the how of engineering the biosphere for a new climate reality, starting with the most critically endangered ecosystem: coral reefs.”
Table Stakes | Roots of Progress Institute
“There are 10 things we must do for the 22nd century to be way better than the 21st. What, why, and how.”
How Do We Get SAI Right?: Risks, Research, and the Route Forward | Roots of Progress Institute
“Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) could, in theory, cool the planet within years, buying time to cut emissions and remove CO₂. The big question isn’t whether we could do it — it’s whether we should. And if so, how to do it in ways that minimize risks and protect people and ecosystems. This is why bans on research are shortsighted: it’s imperative that we understand the global impacts to make more informed decisions. We need to be clear on what we know — and what we don’t — and generate the data we need, fast, to guide the decisions we can’t avoid. That’s the responsible path: reducing risks and protecting people and ecosystems—without gambling the planet.”
Risks of Termination Shock with Francisco Estrada | Climate Chat
“In this Climate Chat episode, we interview climate scientist Francisco Estrada about his recent paper assessing the risks of “Termination Shock” following the implementation of Solar Radiation Management (SRM, a.k.a., solar-geoengineering). Termination Shock is a rapid, severe warming spike that would occur if SRM were suddenly stopped, because accumulated greenhouse gases would heat the planet all at once instead of being masked.”
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