Weekly Solar Geoengineering Updates (23 March - 29 March 2026)

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Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Weekly Solar Geoengineering Updates (23 March - 29 March 2026) Weekly SRM roundup of research papers, web posts, events, jobs, projects, podcasts, videos and much more. Andrew Lockley Mar 30   READ IN APP   1. This Week’s Top SRM Highlights 2. Research Papers 3. EGU26 SRM Papers 4. Web Posts 5. Reports 6. Upcoming Events 7. Podcasts 8. YouTube Videos Subscribe to stay informed on solar geoengineering tech and support our independent reporting through a paid subscription. Donate < $10 Get 20% off a group subscription Follow us on: Twitter | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Google Group | Podcast NOTE: If you’d like to submit SRM-related news for our next newsletter, please send it here: Message Andrew Lockley Research Paper: A multiplicity of tomorrows from ‘giving the world cancer’ to ‘colonizing space’: Imagining 299 climate intervention futures from a foresight exercise across 44 focus groups (ScienceDirect) Research Paper: Evaluating simulations of ship tracks in a km-scale model (EGU) Opinion Piece: When Governance Lags: What Other Technologies Reveal About SRM (DSG) Report: Reflective 2025 Annual Report ‎(Reflective) Upcoming Event: Two ideas on how aerosols influence high-latitude climate: direct and indirect effects (Max-Planck Institute) Podcast: Should we block some sunlight to cool the planet? A conversation with Dakota Gruener of Reflective (Volts) Video: Co-CREATE Seminar - Funding SRM Research Responsibly: From Principles to Practice and Back (Climate Strategies) Read on to unpack more updates: Expertise at the Limits of Quantified Risk: Social Constructions of Ignorance in the Scientific Controversy on Solar Geoengineering Authors: Johan Daniel Andersson, Anders Hansson, Mathias Fridahl Synopsis: This paper explores how trust in scientific expertise is justified in the context of Solar Geoengineering, where risks are deeply uncertain and hard to quantify. It argues that, rather than relying on precise risk assessment, experts build trust by identifying and clarizing “unknown unknowns.” By turning them into “known unknowns,” scientists provide a more transparent and credible basis for navigating uncertainty in climate intervention decisions. Climate Intervention and Mitigation: Strategic Responses to Technological Advances in Solar Geoengineering Authors: Todd L. Cherry, Stephan Kroll & David M. McEvoy Synopsis: This study investigates how solar geoengineering (SG) influences climate mitigation behavior using a social dilemma experiment. While SG can encourage overall cooperation, the findings show that as it becomes more effective and certain, mitigation efforts decline. Individuals who benefit most from SGE reduce mitigation, whereas those more vulnerable increase their efforts, revealing complex, uneven behavioral responses to SG deployment. Vital Ice: Controversies over Glacier Geoengineering in Chile Authors: Cristián Simonetti and Fernando Purcell Synopsis: This article examines evolving views of glaciers in Chile amid geoengineering proposals to mitigate mining and climate impacts. It highlights controversial efforts, such as relocating massive ice volumes, and traces similar past proposals that sparked legal and political responses. The study argues these initiatives rely on viewing glaciers as movable, inert objects, contrasting with scientific perspectives that see them as complex, irreversible ecosystems tied to their environment. Evaluating simulations of ship tracks in a km-scale model Authors: Anna Tippett, Paul R. Field, and Edward Gryspeerdt Synopsis: This study examines uncertainties in simulating Marine Cloud Brightening by analyzing ship tracks as real-world analogues. While models can reproduce average cloud properties, they struggle to capture how cloud adjustments evolve over time, especially in precipitating clouds. The results show models often overestimate aerosol effects, suppress drizzle too strongly, and exaggerate cooling. These findings highlight key limitations in current climate models for accurately predicting MCB outcomes. A multiplicity of tomorrows from ‘giving the world cancer’ to ‘colonizing space’: Imagining 299 climate intervention futures from a foresight exercise across 44 focus groups Authors: Benjamin K. Sovacool, Livia Fritz, Chad M. Baum, Ramit Debnath, Roberto Cantoni, Francesc Martori Synopsis: This study explores global public perceptions of climate interventions through a foresight exercise involving 44 focus groups across 22 countries. Participants imagined 299 future scenarios for 2030 involving technologies like solar radiation modification and carbon removal. The results reveal diverse outlooksf, rom optimism about innovation to concerns over ecological harm and inequality, highlighting how cultural, geopolitical, and technological factors shape expectations and the need for inclusive climate policymaking. Sensitivity of Marine Cloud Brightening over the Great Barrier Reef to Spatial Variability in Aerosol Forcing: A Case Study using convection-permitting model - Preprint Authors: Wenhui Zhao, Yi Huang, Steven Siems, and Daniel Harrison Synopsis: This study evaluates Marine Cloud Brightening over the Great Barrier Reef using high-resolution simulations. Results show aerosol emissions significantly increase cloud droplet numbers and reflectivity, mainly via the Twomey Effect, while other cloud properties change little. Effectiveness depends strongly on emission spacing and atmospheric conditions, highlighting key design factors for reducing coral bleaching risks. Relative positivity versus negativity of public futures of climate interventions across 44 focus groups in 22 countries (Source) Share Session AS3.7: Clouds, Aerosols, Radiation and Precipitation The optimal size distribution of seeding aerosol for marine cloud brightening: insights from emulating a Lagrangian cloud model Observed feasibility of fine and coarse aerosol-driven marine cloud brightening across different cloud regimes Office of the Dean for Research - Six research projects receive Sustainability of Our Planet funding SRM360 - Iceland and the AMOC: When Existence Is at Stake LinkedIn - How should we think about SRM in relation to the possibility of AMOC collapse? DSG - When Governance Lags: What Other Technologies Reveal About SRM Liberation - How a start-up wants to cool the planet by spraying particles into the atmosphere TXCCRI - Clearing the Air: An Analysis of Weather Modification, Old and New Legal Planet - Policy Implications of Accelerating Warming AMS Headlines - NCAR Stories: A Shared Hub of Science Under Threat Co-Create - Collective learning to govern research into the unknown: reflections ahead of the Co-CREATE Forum on SRM Research Governance GAO - Science & Tech Spotlight: Solar Geoengineering Share Solar Geoengineering Updates Reflective - Reflective 2025 Annual Report Upgrade to paid 31 March | Cambridge, US - Is Politically Feasible and Morally Responsible Geoengineering Possible? by Harvard University 01 April | Hamburg - Two ideas on how aerosols influence high-latitude climate: direct and indirect effects by Max-Planck Institute (NEW) 21 April | San Francisco, California - Stabilize Earth by Devonian Systems 03-08 May | Vienna, Austria & Online - EGU26 13-15 May | University of Nottingham - IAA Planetary Sunshade Workshop by Planetary Sunshade Foundation 18 May | University of Chicago - Frontiers in Climate Systems Engineering by CSEi 28 – 29 May | Belgium - International Forum on Solar Radiation Modification Research Governance by Co-Create 02-04 June | Rwanda - The IAF Global Space Conference on Climate Change 2026 - Uniting Space and Earth for Climate Resilience 20-21 June | United States - Bridging the Knowledge Gaps in Climate Engineering with Experiments, Models, and Observations by Gordon Research Seminar 21-26 June 2026 | United States - Gordon Research Conference - Bridging Observations, Models, and Impacts in Solar Radiation Modification Research Solar Geoengineering Events Calendar Add our Solar Geoengineering Events Calendar to your default calendar in 2 ways: Head to this link: https://teamup.com/ks64mmvtit583eitxx Sync specific event: Click the event → menu (≡) → Share → choose your calendar → Save. Or sync all events: Menu (≡) → Preferences → iCalendar Feeds → Copy URL → Add to your calendar settings → Subscribe. “Are You Going To Stop Me Cooling The Earth?” — Luke Iseman, Founder of Make Sunsets | Inevitable & Obvious Inevitable & Obvious "Are You Going To Stop Me Cooling The Earth?" — Luke Iseman, Founder of Make Sunsets Luke Iseman is putting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere with high-altitude balloons and selling cooling credits to pay for it. And he doesn’t care if you approve… Listen now 6 days ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · Paul Gambill “Luke Iseman is putting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere with high-altitude balloons and selling cooling credits to pay for it. And he doesn’t care if you approve. Make Sunsets is maybe the most polarizing company in climate interventions right now, and I wanted to have Luke on the show so we could learn more about how they think and what their goals are. We discussed the question that if we assuming cooling the planet is necessary (and we both believe it is), does that justify acting without institutional permission? We get into the energy math on carbon removal, the governance question, and a wealthy customer who may be planning to personally fund enough deployment to measurably cool the planet.” Should we block some sunlight to cool the planet? A conversation with Dakota Gruener of Reflective | Volts Volts Should we block some sunlight to cool the planet? In this episode, Dakota Gruener of Reflective walks me through her organization’s new project, which maps the gaps in our scientific understanding of stratospheric aerosol injection — currently the leading candidate for directly cooling the planet. We get into what we don’t know (including a factor-of-two disagreement on basic aerosol physics), who’s al… Listen now 3 days ago · 26 likes · 4 comments · David Roberts “In this episode, Dakota Gruener of Reflective walks me through her organization’s new project, which maps the gaps in our scientific understanding of stratospheric aerosol injection — currently the leading candidate for directly cooling the planet. We get into what we don’t know (including a factor-of-two disagreement on basic aerosol physics), who’s already doing this without oversight, and the unsettling governance question of who controls the Earth’s thermostat once humanity has grabbed it.” Upgrade to paid “The Last Resort: Could Geoengineering Save the AMOC from Collapse?” – Dr. Claudia Wieners | Nick Breeze ClimateGenn “In this episode, Nick Breeze speaks with Dr. Claudia Wieners, climate scientist at the University of Utrecht, to explore one of the most urgent and controversial questions in climate science: could Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) be used to prevent the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)?” Co-CREATE Seminar - Funding SRM Research Responsibly: From Principles to Practice and Back | Climate Strategies Could Solar Geoengineering Help Prevent AMOC Collapse? | SRM360 “An expert panel featuring Laurie Laybourn, David Thornalley, and John Moore will discuss: – What is the AMOC and why is it important? – Could climate change cause the AMOC to collapse and what would the consequences be? – Could solar geoengineering help to stabilise the AMOC, and what risks could it bring?” Twitter | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Substack | Google Group | Podcast 1 | Podcast 2 Support us here: While all content on Solar Geoengineering Updates is free for everyone, We urge those who can to become paid subscribers. Your support empowers this important work and helps us spread the message far and wide. Support This Newsletter Leave a comment You're currently a free subscriber to Solar Geoengineering Updates. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid   Share     Like Comment Restack   © 2026 Solar Geoengineering Updates 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe