| Links to recent scientific papers, web posts, upcoming events, job opportunities, podcasts, and event recordings, etc. on Solar Radiation Management Technology.RESEARCH PAPERSMao, Q., & Nie, X. (2024). Simulation and evaluation study of atmospheric aerosol nonsphericity as a function of particle size. Particuology.AbstractThe aerosol nonsphericity causes great uncertainty in radiative forcing assessments and climate simulations. Although considerable studies have attempted to quantify this uncertainty, the relationship between aerosol nonsphericity and particle size is usually not considered, thus reducing the accuracy of results. In this paper, coupled inversion algorithm combining improved stochastic particle swarm optimization algorithm and angular light-scattering is used for the nonparametric estimation of aerosol nonsphericity variation with particle size, and the optimal sample selection method is employed to screen data. Based on the verification of inversion accuracy, the variation of aerosol aspect ratio with particle size based on the ellipsoidal model in global regions has been obtained from AERONET data, and the effect of nonsphericity on radiative forcing and dry deposition has been studied. The results show that the aspect ratio increases with particle size in all regions, with the maximum from 1.4 to 1.8 in the desert, reflecting the differences in aerosol composition at different particle sizes. In radiation calculations, considering aerosol nonsphericity makes the aerosol cooling effect weaker and surface radiative fluxes increase, but hardly change the aerosol absorption, with maximum differences of 9.22% and 22.12% at the bottom and top of the atmosphere, respectively. Meanwhile, the differences in radiative forcing between aspect ratios as a function of particle size and not varying with particle size are not significant, averaging less than 2%. Besides, the aspect ratio not varying with particle size underestimates the deposition velocity of small particles and overestimates that of large particles compared to that as a function of particle size, with maximum differences of 7% and 4%, respectively.
Obahoundje, S., Nguessan-Bi, V. H., Diedhiou, A., Kravitz, B., & Moore, J. C. (2023). Implication of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering on compound precipitation and temperature extremes in Africa. Science of the Total Environment, 863, 160806.AbstractThree Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) models that simulated the G4 experiment of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) were used to investigate the impact of stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) on combined temperature and precipitation extremes in Africa that can have greater negative impacts on human and the environment than individual rainfall or temperature extremes. The examined compound extremes included the dry (Rwarm׀dry and Rcold׀dry) and wet (Rwarm׀wet and Rcold׀wet) modes assessed during the injection (SAI, 2050–2069) and post-injection (postSAI, 2070–2089) periods compared with the historical period (1986–2005). We found a significant projected change in the occurrence of both wet and dry modes during SAI and postSAI related to the historical period. The magnitude and sign of this change depend on the season and the geographical location. During the SAI and postSAI, the wet (Rwarm׀wet and Rcold׀wet) modes are projected to be significantly lower while the dry modes are noted to increase in a large part of African continent depending on the season and the geographical location and may consequently leads to an increase of the droughts prone areas. The termination effect is noted to reduce the occurrence of dry modes, which may reduce the potential negative effects of the injection after halting. As the effect may vary from one region to another and according to the season, it suggested assessing the key sector impacts of SAI. Thus, this change in dry modes due to SAI could affect all activities which depend on water resources such as water supply, agriculture and food production, energy demand, and production with adverse effects on health, security, and sustainable development, but this needs to be assessed and quantified at regional scales.
Merk, C., & Wagner, G. (2024). Presenting balanced geoengineering information has little effect on mitigation engagement. Climatic Change, 177(1), 11.Abstract“Moral hazard” links geoengineering to mitigation via the fear that either solar geoengineering (solar radiation management, SRM) or carbon dioxide removal (CDR) might crowd out the desire to cut emissions. Fear of this crowding-out effect ranks among the most frequently cited risks of (solar) geoengineering. We here test moral hazard versus its inverse in a large-scale, revealed-preference experiment (n ~ 340,000) on Facebook and find little to no support for either outcome. For the most part, talking about SRM or CDR does not motivate our study population to support a large US environmental non-profit’s mission, nor does it turn them off relative to baseline climate messaging, except when using extreme messengers and framings. Our results indicate the importance of actors and reasoned narratives of (solar) geoengineering to help guide public discourse.
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WEB POSTSThe Solar Geoengineering Updates Newsletter (December'2023) Solar Geoengineering Updates4 days ago · 1 like · Andrew Lockley Geoengineering Now! (The Seeds of Science) The Seeds of ScienceMaxwell Tabarrok is an economics researcher at Dartmouth College and the author of the Maximum Progress substack. Maximum Progress is a blog about the economics, history, science, philosophy, and culture surrounding a single graph: World GDP Over the Last Two Millennia… 6 days ago · 18 likes · 2 comments · Seeds of Science
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PODCASTS“David Keith is a Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago and the Founding Faculty Director of the Climate Systems Engineering initiative. Keith previously led the development of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program.In this episode, we discuss Keith’s Climate Systems Engineering initiatives, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and geoengineering techniques. Drawing on David’s decades of expertise, we dive deep into topics such as CDR, solar geoengineering, ice sheet geoengineering.”
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