Extreme events as an inadequately explored measure of solar geoengineering performance

[Geoengineering News]

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/ae9f31/meta

Authors: Kwesi A Quagraine, Mari Rachel Tye, Kwesi Twentwewa Quagraine and Christopher Lennard

DOI 10.1088/2515-7620/ae9f31

26 August 2026

Abstract

Global mean surface temperature (GMST) is the primary target used to design and compare solar geoengineering simulations, and it is a useful first-order predictor of the climate response. Its limits as a measure of performance, however, remain largely untested. Studies of how solar geoengineering alters climate extremes exist yet remain inadequately explored. We argue that extreme-event metrics should become a formal part of performance assessment, so that success is judged by how interventions alter the risks of floods, heatwaves and droughts especially for climate vulnerable regions.

Source: IOP Science