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THIS WEEK’S TOP SRM HIGHLIGHTS
Research Paper: Organic Solar Radiation Modification (Tellus)
Preprint: Spatial and temporal distribution of stratospheric turbulence from global high-resolution radiosonde data (ArXiv)
Call for Presentation Proposals: 2026 RFF and Harvard SRM Social Science Research Workshop (RFF)
Opinion Piece: Solar Radiation Modification: A last resort, but for how much longer? (Climate Uncovered)
Journalistic Article: The climate change scientists racing to dim the sun (The Telegraph)
Job Opportunity: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Solar Radiation Management (The University of Edinburgh)
Upcoming Event: 04 May | Boston, Massachusetts - Heading past 1.5C - Could Solar Geoengineering help? (Boston Climate Week)
Podcast: Building Governance From Scratch — Janos Pasztor, Former ED, Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (Inevitable & Obvious)
Video: Deliberately Cooling the Planet. Could we? Would we? Should we? | Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS)
Read on to unpack more updates:
RESEARCH PAPERS
Projected temperature and precipitation extremes over Tanzania under stratospheric SO2 injection
Authors: Trisha D Patel, Mariam Nguvava and Romaric C Odoulami
Synopsis: Tanzania faces severe climate risks under RCP8.5, including up to +4 °C warming and intensified heat and rainfall extremes. Simulations from GLENS show Stratospheric Aerosol Injection could reduce warming by 1.5–4 °C but also lower rainfall and increase dry spells. These trade-offs may ease heat stress yet worsen water scarcity, highlighting uneven regional impacts and the need for cautious evaluation.
Learning From Public Health Emergencies For Solar Geoengineering Governance: The Filter And The Countermeasure
Authors: Guillermo Marín Penella, Timothy Daly, Ignacio Mastroleo
Synopsis: Drawing on medical research ethics, this study proposes a dual governance framework for climate engineering. It distinguishes between a long-term research “filter” to evaluate and refine interventions, and an emergency “countermeasure” pathway allowing temporary deployment when no alternatives exist. This approach aims to balance caution with responsiveness, improving oversight and decision-making under urgent climate risks.
Simulated response of the climate of eastern Africa to stratospheric aerosol intervention
Authors: Herbert O. Misiani, Hussen S. Endris, Franklin J. Opijah, et al.
Synopsis: Eastern Africa faces rising climate extremes under SSP2-4.5. Using CESM2-WACCM6 and ARISE-SAI, this study finds Stratospheric Aerosol Injection can reduce warming in near- and mid-term futures. However, rainfall responses vary by region and season, highlighting uncertain and uneven impacts and the need for cautious interpretation.
Field Observations of Sea Ice Thickening by Artificial Flooding
Authors: T. C. Hammer, L. L. van Dijke, A. Shestov, C. Haas, H. Hendrikse
Synopsis: Arctic sea ice loss is accelerating due to ice–albedo feedback, prompting interest in artificial thickening methods. This study tests seawater flooding to grow thicker ice in Svalbard. While flooding increased ice thickness by 26 cm and delayed internal decay by six days, it did not extend overall summer ice survival. Results highlight mixed effectiveness, with outcomes shaped by local conditions, and emphasize the need for larger-scale, multi-site experiments.
Organic Solar Radiation Modification
Authors: Markku Kulmala, Anton Laakso, Mikael Ehn, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Veli-Matti Kerminen
Synopsis: Greenhouse gas levels and emissions continue to rise while natural and technical carbon sinks lag behind, renewing interest in SRM. This study proposes Organic Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (OSAI), using isoprene or monoterpenes, as a potential alternative to sulfate-based SAI. Modeling suggests it could reduce risks like acid deposition and ozone damage, though uncertainties remain around stratospheric heating and ozone impacts.
Uncovering a Missing Factor in Marine Low Cloud Formation
Authors: Ehsan Erfani
Synopsis: Marine low clouds (MLCs) strongly influence Earth’s radiation balance, yet their response to climate variability remains uncertain. This study examines how the El Niño–Southern Oscillation affects MLCs over the Pacific. Results show regional contrasts: El Niño reduces clouds and cooling in the Northeast Pacific but enhances both in the Southeast Pacific. These differences are driven by shifts in circulation, inversion strength, and boundary-layer stability, improving understanding of cloud–climate interactions.
Dynamical and Radiative Influence on the Hadley Circulation by Aerosol-Cloud Interactions
Authors: Takanobu Yamaguchi, Ryuji Yoshida, Yao-Sheng Chen, Isabel L. McCoy, Graham Feingold
Synopsis: This study examines how aerosols influence large-scale circulation and cloud radiative effects using a high-resolution Hadley circulation model. Aerosols strengthen circulation and brighten clouds, though effects weaken with ocean coupling. Changes in cloud water, fraction, and droplet number drive CRE responses, especially in deep convection regions. Results show ocean–atmosphere coupling moderates aerosol impacts, highlighting complex feedbacks in climate systems.
Spatial and temporal distribution of stratospheric turbulence from global high-resolution radiosonde data - Preprint
Authors: Han-Chang Ko, Hongwei Sun
Synopsis: Stratospheric turbulence, though hard to observe, plays a key role in spreading momentum, gases, and aerosols. Using global radiosonde data (2014–2025), this study finds turbulence is strongest in stable but wind-sheared regions, with hotspots over Asia and mountainous areas. A notable maximum above the tropical tropopause suggests a favorable zone for rapid aerosol dispersion in Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, improving predictions of plume spread.
Assessing Future Temperature and Precipitation Responses to Solar Radiation Management in Bangladesh: A Comparative Analysis with SSP Scenarios - Preprint
Authors: Afifa Talukder, Mohammad Kamruzzaman, Syed Hafizur Rahman
Synopsis: Bangladesh faces rising heat and shifting rainfall under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5. Using CMIP6 data, this study finds Solar Radiation Management scenarios (G6Solar, G6Sulfur) can moderate warming but slightly reduce precipitation, increasing drought risk. While SRM offsets temperature rise, it introduces rainfall uncertainties, reinforcing that it should complement, not replace, emissions cuts.
Organic Solar Radiation Modification
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WEB POSTS
SRM360 - Do New Reports Signal a Shift in US Conservatives’ Approach to SRM?
DSG - The Danger of Performed Governance in SRM
SilverLining - Why Sustained Marine Observations Matter for Atmospheric Research
The Telegraph - The climate change scientists racing to dim the sun
Degrees Initiative - From curiosity to climate leadership: Dr Romaric C. Odoulami’s journey in African SRM research
Woodwell Climate Research Centre - The only thing crazier than talking about solar radiation management is not talking about it
Climate Uncovered - Solar Radiation Modification: A last resort, but for how much longer?
The Innovation Geoscience - Positive feedback of Gulf Stream latent heat flux in sustaining AMOC evolution under stratospheric aerosol injection
Carbon Brief - Guest post: How declining cloudiness is accelerating global warming
DSG - From Taboo to Assumed: How Carbon Dioxide Removal Advanced Before Governance Could Keep Up and What It Means for SRM
ACIRhub - How could SRM affect West Africa?
SRM360 - Stardust Publishes New Details on Its Climate Cooling Plans
ACIRH Hub - The ACIRH Story: 12 Years in the Making
Upon Further Reflection - Reflective at GeoMIP
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CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Call for Presentation Proposals: 2026 RFF and Harvard SRM Social Science Research Workshop | Deadline: 15 May 2026
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Solar Radiation Management at The University of Edinburgh - College of Science and Engineering - School of GeoSciences | Deadline: 15 June 2026
“University of Edinburgh seek a postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) for a 24-month position to work on the UK NERC-funded grant “Quantifying Efficacy and risks of solar radiation management (SRM) approaches using natural analogues”. The project will use novel machine learning-based methods to determine the climate response to a range of natural event (e.g. wildfires, volcanic eruptions) which can be used as analogues of SRM to provide evidence for informing model improvement without worry about the risks of field experiments. The derived large-scale observational constraints will be used to constrain and advance climate models, and to attribute climate response to SRM.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
14 April | Florida - FSU/Plan C for Civilization Screening
21 April | San Francisco, California - Stabilize Earth by Devonian Systems
21 April | United States - “Plan C for Civilization” Screening and Q&A
22 April | Online - Live Discussion: Would Solar Geoengineering Transform or Preserve Nature? by SRM360
03-08 May | Vienna, Austria & Online - EGU26
04 May | Boston, Massachusetts - Heading past 1.5C - Could Solar Geoengineering help? by Duncan McLaren & Boston Climate Week (NEW)
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 May | Arena 2 Plenum - Building and Sharing Knowledge of Climate Interventions by UArctic Congress (NEW)
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
10-11 September | Washington, DC. - 2026 RFF and Harvard SRM Social Science Research Workshop (NEW)
Solar Geoengineering Events Calendar
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PODCASTS
Building Governance From Scratch — Janos Pasztor, Former ED, Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative | Inevitable & Obvious
“A former UN Assistant Secretary-General spent seven years trying to get world leaders to talk about planetary cooling. Most of them told him the same thing: “We can’t talk about this publicly.” Janos Pasztor led the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G), the first organization to systematically bring solar radiation modification governance to governments, diplomats, and the UN system.
In this conversation, he walks through what those private meetings actually sounded like, why a landmark UN event was killed by COVID days before launch, how a Pakistani minister’s first question revealed what actually drives national policy, and why the biggest gap right now isn’t research or technology but the societal conversations that still aren’t happening.”
MCB: Can Brighter Clouds Cool the Planet? with Dr. Jessica Wan | CSEi
“Climate scientist and CSEi Research Fellow Jessica Wan joined the Oceanography podcast to explain how marine cloud brightening (MCB) works, and what climate models reveal about MCB’s unintended effects.”
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YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Can We Reflect the Sun & Cool the Earth? with SRM Scientist Doug MacMartin | Climate Chat
“In this Climate Chat episode, Cornell climate scientist -- and returning guest -- Douglas MacMartin discusses the latest research in Sunlight Reflection Methods (a.k.a, solar radiation management (SRM) and Solar Geoengineering) and the practicality of implementing SRM in the coming decade, if needed.”
Deliberately Cooling the Planet. Could we? Would we? Should we? | Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS)
Joe Rogan Experience - Kurt Metzger | PowerfulJRE
Kurt Metzger on Joe Rogan discusses cloud seeding, geoengineering, chemtrails, and the SATAN experiment for around 5m starting at around 55m.
CSEi Seminar Featuring Ramit Debnath (Cambridge University) | UChicago Climate Systems Engineering initiative
“Unveiling micro-signals of social tipping mechanisms in the climate discourse: Mechanistic insights using computational social sciences
This talk investigates how computational social sciences can identify “micro-signals,” subtle shifts in discourse, that signal social tipping points critical to climate action.”
The Degrees Initiative - Putting the Global South at the centre of solar geoengineering evaluation | The Degrees Initiative
“The Degrees Initiative is changing how the world evaluates solar radiation modification (SRM), also known as solar geoengineering.
If the world reaches a point where leaders must decide whether to use SRM to reduce climate impacts, they will need trusted experts to advise on risks, benefits, trade-offs and governance.
For over a decade, Degrees has led the world in building the capacity of developing countries to ask their own questions and do their own research, ensuring informed and confident representation in global discussions. We fund research, run engagement workshops and build communities, creating networks of independent experts.”
Engineering Our Planet, Part II: Building Platforms for Geoengineering Research and Governance | CSPO DC
“The second of the two-part event convened Geoengineering Policy, Research, and Engagement leaders and producers to facilitate conversations with the science and technology policy research, design, and engagement communities in Washington, DC, and online.”
Scenes from S&P Global’s CERAWeek 26 | David Keith, Climate Systems Engineering Initiative, UChicago | SmarterMarkets™
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