Weekly Solar Geoengineering Updates (09 June - 15 June 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. Theses
5. Call for Abstract
6. Job Opportunity
7. SRM Course
8. Upcoming Events
9. Podcasts
10. YouTube Videos
RESEARCH PAPER: Simulated terrestrial climate and carbon cycle response to cloud albedo enhancement over ocean and land (ScienceDirect)
INTERVIEW: “People are fighting against the solutions rather than the science” (New Scientist)
EXPLAINER: How human-caused aerosols are ‘masking’ global warming (Carbon Brief)
THESIS: Engineering the Future: The Case for Geoengineering as the Key to Solving Climate Change (Uni of Texas at Austin)
JOB OPPORTUNITY: Postdoctoral Scholar – Quantifying and Understanding Uncertainties in Regional Impacts of Solar Geoengineering (The University of Chicago’s CSEi)
CALL FOR ABSTRACT: Session: Progress in modelling solar radiation modification through GeoMIP (CMIP26 workshop)
UPCOMING EVENT: Ethical Guidelines for SRM Research: Legitimacy, Recognition, and Procedural Justice (Co-Create)
VIDEO: Can We Afford to Ignore Solar Geoengineering? (The Transition Accelerator)
Read on to unpack more updates:
Authors: Burak Sezer, Judith Rauscher & Nora Castle
Synopsis: This article analyzes how Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future and Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock portray short-term technofixes versus long-term climate governance. Both novels explore solar geoengineering amid climate crises, featuring diverse actors—states, individuals, and institutions—engaging in “gritwork,” or improvised, sometimes unauthorized interventions. Rather than dismissing technofixes outright, the texts examine tensions around legitimacy, justice, and democratic participation in climate action.
Southeast Asia’s Extreme Precipitation Response to Solar Radiation Management with GLENS Simulations
Authors: Heri Kuswanto, Fatkhurokhman Fauzi, Brina Miftahurrohmah, Mou Leong Tan and Hong Xuan Do
Synopsis: This study uses GLENS simulations to assess how SRM affects extreme precipitation in Southeast Asia. SRM produces uneven outcomes: it increases rainfall in parts of Indonesia but reduces wet days and prolongs dry spells in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Changes in heavy and multi-day rainfall events suggest shifting flood and drought risks. The findings underscore SRM's complex hydrological trade-offs and implications for regional climate adaptation and water management.
Authors: Benjamin K. Sovacool, Chad M. Baum, Livia Fritz & Sean Low
Synopsis: This study investigates 20 experimental projects in carbon removal and solar radiation modification using participatory action research and ethnographic methods. Through 118 interviews and site observations, the authors examine actor coalitions, promises and expectations, innovation dynamics, and perceived co-impacts of these interventions. Findings reveal how powerful coalitions, significant climate finance, and emerging innovation styles are shaping the future of climate policy and intervention strategies.
Representation of Arctic Winter Atmospheric Boundary Layer Stability Over Sea Ice in CMIP6 Models
Authors: Alistair Duffey, Robbie Mallett, Victoria R. Dutch, Julia Steckling, Antoine Hermant, et al.
Synopsis: This study evaluates how CMIP6 climate models simulate the Arctic winter boundary layer over sea ice, comparing them with observations from MOSAiC, SHEBA, and earlier data. While models reproduce general trends in low-level stability (LLS), most fail to capture the cloudy, weakly stable state due to poor representation of mixed-phase clouds. This limits realism in modeling Arctic amplification. Models project decreasing LLS with warming, dropping below zero by 2100 under SSP2-4.5.
Authors: Yu FANG, Long CAO
Synopsis: This study uses CESM to compare marine cloud brightening (MCB) and land cloud brightening (LCB) under high CO₂ conditions. Both achieve approx −1 W/m² radiative forcing across 30°S–30°N, but have opposite effects on land climate and carbon uptake. MCB boosts precipitation and soil moisture, increasing GPP. LCB induces drying and reduces GPP by 3.80 GtC/year—three times more than MCB. These contrasting impacts highlight key hydrological and carbon cycle trade-offs in large-scale albedo modification.
Author: Alec Feinberg
Synopsis: This study suggest that without Solar Geoengineering, feedback loops are projected to drive up to 75% of global warming by 2100, making CO₂ reduction goals unrealistic. Verified model data show we're on track to exceed the “RCPCritical” tipping point between 2075–2125. Mild Annual SG Pathways (ASGPs)—Earth Brightening, Arctic SAI, and L1 Sunshades—are proposed to slow warming, address IPCC concerns, and buy time. Urban heat and failed RCP goals highlight the urgent need for action and international SG cooperation.
Authors: Robert Ryan, Daniel Harrison, Lasse Johansson, Robyn Schofield
Synopsis: Climate change is driving more frequent coral bleaching at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and reduced shipping sulfate emissions since 2020 have worsened the problem. Using WRF-Chem, researchers found that lower aerosol levels led to higher solar radiation and sea surface temperatures. Compared to pre-2020, reduced sulfate cooling likely adds ~0.25°C of warming, intensifying coral stress during bleaching events like that of February 2022.
Authors: Cornelis Schwenk, Annette Miltenberger, and Annika Oertel
Synopsis: This study explores how microphysical parameterizations affect water transport and cirrus properties in warm conveyor belts (WCBs), key drivers of radiative forcing. Using Lagrangian data from a perturbed parameter ensemble, the authors find thermodynamic conditions at WCB ascent’s end are stable, but ice content and relative humidity vary widely—mainly due to ice capacitance and INP scaling. These findings highlight critical sensitivities in cloud modeling with implications for climate forecasts and geoengineering.
Impact on Cloud Properties of Reduced-Sulphur Shipping Fuel in the Eastern North Atlantic—Preprint
Authors: Gerald G. Mace, Sally Benson, Peter Gombert, and Tiffany Smallwood
Synopsis: This study analyzes the effects of the 2020 global shipping fuel sulfur reduction on aerosol-cloud interactions using data from ARM-ENA. Post-2020, cloud condensation nuclei dropped ~15%, decreasing droplet number and increasing droplet size. Surprisingly, cloud liquid water path rose, offsetting changes in droplet size and resulting in minimal shifts in optical depth or albedo. Satellite data confirm these findings, revealing a complex cloud feedback response in the Eastern North Atlantic.
New Scientist - “People are fighting against the solutions rather than the science”
Penn Capital Star - Alluding to ‘chemtrail’ conspiracy theory, Mastriano floats ban on climate mitigation techniques
The Climate Brink - The role of aerosol declines in recent warming
Carbon Brief - How human-caused aerosols are ‘masking’ global warming
Medium - What if a Country Tried to Dim the Sun? Geoengineering Dangers and Global Fallout
Phys.Org - Study finds airborne particles can reduce cyclone intensity in early stages
Scientific American - Extreme Heat is the Biggest Threat to Insurers and Businesses
Phys.Org - Would a planetary sunshade help cool the planet? This mission could find out
The Telegraph - Britain’s enemies could dim the sun and weaponise weather
Centre for digital philosophy - Deferred Crises and Displaced Risks
SRM360 - India’s Climate Tipping Point: Why Climate Interventions Can’t Wait
MSN - Geoengineering Dilemma: Climate Fix or Dangerous Gamble?
A Machine for Making Planets: Environmental Media in the Anthropocene
Author: Darnov, Doron
Synopsis: This dissertation argues that geoengineering has transformed Earth into an "alien Earth"—a planet that can no longer be fully understood through traditional environmental frameworks. Challenging the narrow focus on solar radiation management, the author calls for an expanded understanding of geoengineering that includes deeper cultural, technological, and planetary dimensions. They propose a new analytic approach, “planetary humanities,” to interpret Earth as a multi-scalar, reimagined entity shaped by scientific, digital, and cultural forces.
Engineering the Future: The Case for Geoengineering as the Key to Solving Climate Change
Author: Khasgiwala, Aayan
Synopsis: This thesis argues that geoengineering is a critical yet underused component of climate response strategies. It examines four approaches—stratospheric aerosol injection, sponge cities, enhanced rock weathering, and biochar—through scientific, ethical, and practical lenses. While not a cure-all, the thesis concludes that carefully guided geoengineering can reduce near-term climate risks and complement existing mitigation efforts to help avoid the worst impacts of global warming.
Call for Abstracts - CMIP26 workshop — Session: Progress in modelling solar radiation modification through GeoMIP | Deadline: 13 August 2025
"The University of Chicago and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) are looking for highly motivated postdoctoral fellows to join a new project funded by The University of Chicago’s Climate Systems Engineering Initiative that seeks to quantify and understand uncertainties in regional impacts of solar geoengineering. Two positions are available."
Deadline to apply: 20 June 2025 - SRM & CDR Free Short Course (4-5 July 2025) by the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) in collaboration with Department of Geography and Regional Planning
17 June | Germany - ACtIon4Cooling & STATISTICS workshop on Solar Radiation Modification
21 June | Online - Climate crisis: HCI’s plan for India by The Healthy Climate Initiative (NEW)
23 June 2025 | United Kingdom - Sustainable Cooling in the Global South by MEER
24 June | Online - Ethical Guidelines for SRM Research: Legitimacy, Recognition, and Procedural Justice by Co-Create (NEW)
26 June 2025 | In-Person (Canada) & Online - Solar Geoengineering: A Radical, Frightening, and Hopeful Response to Climate Change by Cascade Institute
26-28 June | Cambridge UK - Artic Repair Conference 2025 by University of Cambridge & Center for Climate Repair
04 July | UK - Exeter Climate Conference (2 - 4 July 2025)—Plenary 5: Geoengineering and the concept of responsible climate intervention (NEW)
04-05 September | Washington DC - 2025 RFF and Harvard SRM Social Science Research Workshop: Governance in a Fractured World
23 October | Helsinki - ATLAS25: Risk Management of Earth System Tipping Points by Operaatio Arktis (NEW)
3-7 November | Pune, India - 11th WMO Scientific Conference on Weather Modification
Subscribe to the Solar Geoengineering Events Calendar by adding this link to your default calendar:
https://ics.teamup.com/feed/ks64mmvtit583eitxx/0.ics
Geoengineering: what is it and why is the UK funding trials | Nine to Noon
"The UK is putting tens of millions of dollars into trials for the technique known as geoengineering - intervening in nature in an attempt to slow climate change.
The funding will support trials in marine cloud brightening and stratospheric aerosol injection, which aim to reflect sunlight or absorb carbon dioxide to cool the planet.
Officials say the move is out of concern that emission reduction efforts may not be enough to avert dangerous climate tipping points.
However, critics warn that geoengineering could have unpredictable side effects, potentially altering weather patterns and diverting attention from emissions cuts.
Kathryn speaks to Damian Carrington is The Guardian's environment editor."
"Advocates of geoengineering claim that these technologies provide a potential solution to climate change, but many question their feasibility and harmful impacts and see them simply as a means to prolong the life of the fossil fuel industry. This two part episode looks at the evidence and the law in relation to geoengineering. In the first part of this episode, Kate Cook and Mary Church of CIEL discuss the specific potential environmental, economic and social impacts of the various technologies referred to as geoengineering and the approach taken by the IPCC."
Can We Afford to Ignore Solar Geoengineering? | The Transition Accelerator
"This webinar explored key questions: Should Canada act now to build SRM research capacity and leadership? How could the country foster local expertise and global partnerships to ensure responsible governance of solar geoengineering? Watch this recording to hear from experts on these urgent and complex issues."
Our Climate Strategy is Failing - What's Next | Climate Emergency Forum
"This video features an urgent and in-depth discussion on the failures of current international climate strategies and the need for a bold new approach. Host Herb Simmens is joined by Dr. Graeme Taylor, lead author of "A Realistic Climate Strategy," and renowned climate experts Dr. Peter Wadhams, Paul Beckwith, and Dr. Peter Carter. The panel explores why existing policies have not prevented dangerous global heating, highlighting the rapid rise in temperatures, catastrophic tipping points, and the inadequacy of current emission reduction commitments."
High Altitude Aerosol Injection for Climate Intervention | Remove and Reflect Podcast
"This episode covers an academic paper that investigates Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), a proposed climate intervention method involving the injection of sulfur to reflect sunlight and cool the planet. The authors propose a novel approach called SAI50, which entails injecting sulfur at an altitude of 50 km, contrasting with traditional SAI methods that inject at lower altitudes around 25 km. The research highlights that SAI50 significantly reduces negative side effects such as tropical stratospheric warming, increased stratospheric water vapor, and delays in Antarctic ozone recovery, while enhancing cooling efficiency at both global and polar levels. The study concludes that SAI50 offers a more effective and less disruptive strategy for climate intervention, though it acknowledges the need for advanced rocket-based injection systems to implement this high-altitude approach."
"Dr Pietro Andreoni (Politecnico di Milano, Italy): "Regional implications of noncooperative stratospheric aerosol injection"
Prof Juan A. Añel (Universidad de Vigo, Spain): "Stratospheric contraction under Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosol Injection"
Follow us on:
Twitter | Bluesky | YouTube | Substack | Google Group | Podcast 1 | Podcast 2
If you're interested in how geoengineering might be disrupting natural systems, I just published a deep-dive on the potential link between atmospheric interventions and the sargassum crisis in the Caribbean. It’s evidence-based, no fluff — would love your take:
👉 https://edgesignals.substack.com/p/did-geoengineering-trigger-the-sargassum?r=1glqus