Geoengineering Earth's radiation balance to mitigate CO2-induced climate change

To counteract anthropogenic climate change, several schemes have been proposed to diminish solar radiation incident on Earth's surface. These geoengineering schemes could reverse global annual mean warming; however, it is unclear to what extent they would mitigate regional and seasonal climate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2000-07, Vol.27 (14), p.2141-2144
Main Authors: Govindasamy, Bala, Caldeira, Ken
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Meteorology
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Summary:To counteract anthropogenic climate change, several schemes have been proposed to diminish solar radiation incident on Earth's surface. These geoengineering schemes could reverse global annual mean warming; however, it is unclear to what extent they would mitigate regional and seasonal climate change, because radiative forcing from greenhouse gases such as CO2 differs from that of sunlight. No previous study has directly addressed this issue. In the NCAR CCM3 atmospheric general circulation model, we reduced the solar luminosity to balance the increased radiative forcing from doubling atmospheric CO2. Our results indicate that geoengineering schemes could markedly diminish regional and seasonal climate change from increased atmospheric CO2, despite differences in radiative forcing patterns. Nevertheless, geoengineering schemes could prove environmentally risky.
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/1999GL006086