SRM projects initiated in Mali, South Africa and Brazil by DMF (Degrees Modelling Fund)
Geoengineering News
Mali
Exploring whether SRM could offset droughts in West Africa
Host institution
Institut Polytechnique Rural de Formation et de Recherche Appliquée (IPR/IFRA)
Grant year
2023
Project summary
West African countries are highly vulnerable to climate extremes such as droughts, floods, and heat stress. The region’s ongoing drought, which began in 2022, is projected to leave over 30 million people in a food crisis or worse – and such crises are expected to intensify due to climate change. SRM could help reduce the risks from global warming, but it is unclear if it will offset the increase in droughts and other extreme events, or whether it will induce different regional climate responses. Dr Amadou Coulibaly’s team will model the impact of SRM on droughts from meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological perspectives, providing regional policymakers and stakeholders with valuable information to support their participation in future international scientific and policy debates.
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https://www.degrees.ngo/dmf/the-projects/south-africa-2023/
South Africa
Exploring whether SRM can reduce risks to biodiversity and human health
Host institution
University of Cape Town
Grant year
2023
Project summary
Climate change is expected to have a severe impact on biodiversity and health, yet there is limited knowledge about whether SRM – a proposed approach to reduce climate risk – would have on those key outcomes. Dr Andreas Schwarz Meyer and his team from South Africa plan to fill an important gap in the research by conducting the first detailed overview – globally and for developing countries – of the temporal and spatial dynamics of biodiversity risks under future climate scenarios with and without SRM. This will include estimates of the future distribution of Aedes and Culex mosquitoes, which carry diseases such as dengue, Zika virus, chikungunya, Rift Valley fever, and yellow fever. The results will provide crucial new information for policymakers and other stakeholders in developing countries about the potential of SRM to influence climate change risks to people and ecosystems.
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https://www.degrees.ngo/dmf/the-projects/brazil-2023/
Brazil
Studying the response of Cyclones to SRM in the Southern Hemisphere
Host institution
Brazil Instituto de Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de Itajubá
Grant year
2023
Project summary
Cyclones are projected to increase in intensity and severity with climate change, causing dangerous winds and floods in coastal areas – yet almost no studies have evaluated the potential impacts of SRM on their behaviour. Prof. Michelle Simões Reboita’s Brazil-based team will explore the impact of climate change on cyclones in the southern hemisphere, and how SRM might affect that, and will look at the implications for southern African and South American coastlines. This work will provide important information to stakeholders in vulnerable areas such as the coasts of Uruguay, southern Brazil and southern Africa.
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