1. This Week’s Top SRM Highlights
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RESEARCH PAPER: The interaction of solar radiation modification with Earth system tipping elements (European Geosciences Union)
RESEARCH PAPER: Assessing the impact of stratospheric aerosol injection on precipitation extremes in Africa using the ARISE-SAI-1.5 dataset (IOP Science)
NEW GOVERNMENT RESOURCE: EPA Releases New Online Resources Giving Americans Total Transparency on the Issues of Geoengineering and Contrails (EPA)
BOOK CHAPTER: Why Researching Solar Radiation Management Technologies Is Essential and Governable (Bristol University Press)
WEB POST: Geoengineering could avoid climate tipping points, but not if we delay (New Scientist)
PODCAST: How geoengineering could save us from climate disaster (The world, the universe and us)
VIDEO: Herb Simmens at London Climate Week: "The Climate Triad: Restoring a Safe and Healthy Climate" (MEER SRM)
Read on to unpack more updates:
Iceberg Mooring Engineering: A New Geoengineering Concept for Stabilizing Antarctic Ice Shelves
Author: Darren Soong
Synopsis: The rapid collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, especially glaciers like Thwaites, threatens global sea levels. Traditional geoengineering is costly or risky. A new idea, “Iceberg mooring engineering,” proposes anchoring large icebergs in place using UHMWPE cables and fiber-reinforced ice anchors. This would protect glaciers from warm currents and restore support. Estimated at $15–20 million per pilot, it offers a cost-effective, low-risk way to tackle ice shelf instability.
Integrating a comprehensive index and the SWAT+ model to assess drought characteristics and risks under solar radiation modification
Authors: Hongrong Du, Mou Leong Tan, Narimah Samat, Zhongli Chen, Fei Zhang
Synopsis: This study uses a Comprehensive Drought Index (CDI) and SWAT+ to assess how SRM affects drought in Malaysia’s Kelantan River Basin. Comparing two SSPs and two SRM scenarios, it finds G6solar reduces drought risk, while G6sulfur shows higher risk similar to SSP5-8.5. CDI outperforms SPI and SSI, detecting droughts they miss. Results show higher chances of concurrent droughts, spatial risk variation, and the need for adaptive water management under future climate and SRM scenarios.
The interaction of solar radiation modification with Earth system tipping elements
Authors: Gideon Futerman, Mira Adhikari, Alistair Duffey, Yuanchao Fan, Jessica Gurevitch, Peter Irvine, and Claudia Wieners
Synopsis: This review examines whether SRM, especially stratospheric aerosol injection, can help avoid crossing Earth system tipping points. Evidence directly linking SRM to tipping elements is limited, so impacts on key drivers like temperature are assessed instead. Findings suggest well-implemented SRM could partly reduce tipping risks where temperature is a main driver, but large uncertainties remain for elements less tied to temperature. More research is needed to close these knowledge gaps.
Assessing the impact of stratospheric aerosol injection on precipitation extremes in Africa using the ARISE-SAI-1.5 dataset
Authors: Kwesi A Quagraine, Mari Rachel Tye, Kwesi Twentwewa Quagraine, Simone Tilmes, Isla Simpson, et al.
Synopsis: SAI aims to cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight but its effects on extreme precipitation in Africa remain unclear. This study shows SAI could reduce heavy rains in wetter regions like West and Central Africa while increasing rainfall in drier areas under SSP2-4.5. The response varies widely by region and index, highlighting the need for more regional research on SAI’s impacts on precipitation, food security, and ecosystems to guide informed climate policy.
Reconstructing Risk–Risk Analysis to Support Effective Governance of High-Risk Climate Interventions
Authors: Duncan P. McLaren
Synopsis: Research into SRM offers hope to reduce climate risks but also introduces new risks. Risk–risk analysis is often used rhetorically to justify SRM research, yet this review finds major practical and ethical flaws in current methods. It highlights methodological biases and technocratic assumptions that may encourage over-reliance on SRM while ignoring alternatives. The study calls for a genuinely precautionary governance approach that embraces uncertainty and prioritizes an ethics of care.
Why Researching Solar Radiation Management Technologies Is Essential and Governable - Book Chapter
Authors: Manon Simon, Kerryn Brent, Jeffrey McGee, and Jan McDonald
Synopsis: To address limited mitigation, some propose CDR, but most methods aren’t proven at scale. Alternatives include SRM techniques like SAI or cirrus cloud thinning to reflect sunlight and release heat. These carry environmental and geopolitical risks and may reduce climate action ambition. This chapter argues for advancing SRM research to understand impacts and develop governance before any deployment occurs.
How Climate Change Impacts Natural Sulfur Emissions and Vice Versa - Book Chapter
Author: Erlijn van Genuchten
Synopsis: Sulfur dioxide cools Earth by reflecting sunlight, naturally emitted by volcanoes and marine life like phytoplankton and corals. Climate change disrupts these marine sulfur sources by harming ocean ecosystems, weakening this natural cooling. Stratospheric aerosol injection aims to mimic volcanic effects artificially but carries uncertain risks. This highlights the complex link between natural sulfur cycles, marine health, and geoengineering in efforts to limit global warming.
Possible ways by which SRM could counteract tipping
(Source)
Engineering our Climate – Stakeholders’ perception of solar geoengineering deployment and governance risks
Authors: Sreekumar, Devaprasad
Synopsis: Climate change can’t be solved by mitigation and adaptation alone, so this thesis examines climate engineering options, especially solar geoengineering, as potential tools to limit warming to 1.5°C. It analyses key concepts, policies, risks, and reasons for slow progress in research and deployment. It highlights stakeholder concerns about solar radiation modification, governance gaps, and uncertainty. The thesis suggests future steps to advance climate engineering responsibly to tackle climate impacts.
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The Conversation - Reduce, remove, reflect — the three Rs that could limit global warming
New Scientist - Geoengineering could avoid climate tipping points, but not if we delay
Carbon Brief - Tipping points: Window to avoid irreversible climate impacts is ‘rapidly closing’
LinkedIn - From Frying Pan to Fire: wrestling with the risks of solar geoengineering
EPA - EPA Releases New Online Resources Giving Americans Total Transparency on the Issues of Geoengineering and Contrails
The Carvan - Africa Is Not a Solar Geoengineering Test Sit
Legal Planet - A Landmark Geoengineering Conversation in the Global South
SRM360 - Global Surveys Challenge Assumptions on Public Opinion of SRM
Just The News - EPA's Zeldin announces release of info on contrails, geoengineering
New Scientist - Artificial cooling 'urgent' for Great Barrier Reef after warming spike
Enviro News Nigeria - Civil society urges African govts to reject geoengineering
WRAL News - Did geoengineering cause floods in Texas and NC?
Politico Pro - Marjorie Taylor Greene pledges probe into geoengineering
Not Just Climate - The UK Government is funding Geoengineering research; should they?
Bloomberg - Trump’s Tax Law Throws Lifeline to Unloved Energy and Climate Sectors
Call for Abstract for AGU25 - Session: Geoengineering and Weather Modification: Bridging Scientific Uncertainties for Climate Resilience | Deadline: 30 July 2025
How geoengineering could save us from climate disaster | The world, the universe and us
 | How geoengineering could save us from climate disaster; Have we broken mathematics?; Why exercise reduces cancer risk The world, the universe and us 33:02 |
"Geoengineering could be the best way to avoid catastrophic climate disaster - but there’s a big catch. In the recent Global Tipping Points Conference in the UK, scientists discussed growing concerns that the AMOC may be on the verge of collapsing. This is a system of ocean currents that plays a crucial role in regulating global climate. With the window of action rapidly closing, one climate model suggests geoengineering is the fastest way to stop this from happening. But without global consensus, the team explains how geoengineering could also damage the climate further or even lead to a new kind of warfare."
Administrator Zeldin Announces New Online Resources on Contrails and Geoengineering | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
"EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency released new online resources to bring total transparency on the topics of contrails and geoengineering."
Accelerated Climate Change and the Case for Cooling | David Spratt | Healthy Planet Action Coalition
"David Spratt is Research Director for the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration in Melbourne Australia. He is co-author of Climate Code Red: The case for emergency action which almost 20 years ago proposed emergency-scale mobilization as a necessary response to climate disruption. His work has focused on understanding climate risk, scientific reticence and climate-security impacts."
Planetary Boundaries: Navigating Our Limits | Climate Emergency Forum
"In this compelling interview, Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, joins the Climate Emergency Forum to discuss the science and significance of planetary boundaries in the context of accelerating climate risks. Rockström explains how the concept of planetary boundaries arose from the recognition that humanity has become the dominant force shaping Earth’s systems, pushing the planet into the Anthropocene. He details how scientists have identified nine critical Earth system processes that regulate planetary stability, noting with concern that six of these boundaries have already been breached, placing humanity in a danger zone where the risk of crossing irreversible tipping points is heightened."
Solar Radiation Modification and Southeast Asian Heatwaves | Remove and Reflect Podcast
This episode covers a scholarly article that examines the potential impacts of Solar Radiation Modification (SRM), a climate intervention strategy, on temperature extremes and heatwaves across Southeast Asia. It compares two SRM scenarios (G6Solar and G6Sulfur) with traditional emissions pathways (SSP245 and SSP585), analyzing their effects on heatwave characteristics like intensity, frequency, and duration from 2020 to 2099. The research highlights Southeast Asia's vulnerability to climate change and uses downscaled and bias-corrected climate model datasets to provide region-specific insights for policymakers considering SRM as a supplementary climate mitigation tool. The findings suggest SRM could significantly reduce the severity of future heatwaves compared to high-emission scenarios, though spatial variations in its effectiveness are noted.
NC bill targets geoengineering | WRAL
"Social media is buzzing with claims that this week's record rain was part of a weather manipulation conspiracy, triggered by planes 'seeding' the clouds. Now a bill in Raleigh aims to ban that very practice."
The Moon Dust Solution: Could It Help Save Earth from Climate Change? | WION Podcast | WION
"Scientists propose mining lunar dust to create a solar shield at L1, blocking 1‑2% of sunlight to cool Earth. About 10 billion kg of dust would be ejected annually using electromagnetic launchers. This geoengineering “moonshot” offers a temporary buffer—buying time while we slash emissions. Complex logistics, cost, and governance loom large. Still, researchers believe exploring all options is crucial in climate crisis response."
Sustainable Global Cooling | Dr. Ye Tao MEER Presentation – LCAW 2025 | MEER SRM
"This session highlights the role of reflective cooling technologies in addressing extreme heat, global energy imbalance, and environmental justice—starting with the regions that need it most."
Herb Simmens at London Climate Week: "The Climate Triad: Restoring a Safe and Healthy Climate" | MEER SRM
"Watch Herb Simmens, a trailblazing climate leader, present "The Climate Triad: Restoring a Safe and Healthy Climate" in this powerful talk recorded at the Foundling Museum, London, on Monday, June 23, 2025, during London Climate Action Week 2025. As co-leader of Montgomery County’s historic 2017 climate emergency declaration—the first in the U.S.—and author of A Climate Vocabulary of the Future (praised by Kim Stanley Robinson as “a science poem, an inspiration, and a prophecy”), Herb shares actionable strategies for a sustainable future. Co-founder of the Healthy Planet Action Coalition and co-host of the Climate Emergency Forum with Paul Beck and Peter Carter, Herb delivers critical insights for addressing the climate crisis."
Press Conference - Geoengineering Africa and Beyond: A Dangerous Distraction | Hands Off Mother Earth! (HOME) Alliance
"Geoengineering is deliberate, risky and speculative large-scale technological manipulation of the Earth’s Systems - oceans, land, and atmosphere - in an attempt to try and cool the planet. As if they are an answer to the climate crisis, these dangerous and illegal outdoor experiments are entering the mainstream discourse on climate as well as in the halls of the UN at the 62nd session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) from 16-26 June in Bonn, Germany,"
How is Geopolitics of GeoEngineering shaping the Weather? | Turing_Life and Earth
"What if one country—or even one billionaire—could cool the entire planet? What if they could redirect rain, suppress hurricanes, or dim the Sun? This video, the final chapter in our Hacking the Planet series, tackles the biggest questions at the heart of geoengineering: not just whether we can, but whether we should."
20-22 July | Chicago - Featured Session: In Case of Emergency: Break Glass at Aspean Ideas (NEW)
29 July 2025 | Online - Making sense of extreme heat and solar geoengineering by SRM360
04-05 September | Washington DC - 2025 RFF and Harvard SRM Social Science Research Workshop: Governance in a Fractured World
6 – 9 October | Online - Virtual workshop series on Stratospheric Aerosol Injection
23 October | Helsinki - ATLAS25: Risk Management of Earth System Tipping Points by Operaatio Arktis
3-7 November | Pune, India - 11th WMO Scientific Conference on Weather Modification
15-19 December | New Orleans, Louisiana - 2025 American Geophysical Union Meeting
9-13 March 2026 | Kyoto, Japan - CMIP Community Workshop (CMIP26)
Solar Geoengineering Events Calendar
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