geoengineering
By Ansel S.
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What is geoengineering?
What is geoengineering?
A lot of people are working on small, everyday solutions for climate change. While these solutions are helpful, even if right now we stopped emitting all carbon dioxide, it still wouldn't be enough to stop climate change, we have to take CO₂ out of the atmosphere. To accomplish that, some people are working on large-scale fixes called geoengineering.
Oxford Languages defines geoengineering as “the deliberate large-scale manipulation of an environmental process that affects the earth's climate, in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming.” What that means is that people do something on a large scale for the purpose of helping to stop climate change. Here are some different examples of geoengineering.
Ocean fertilization
Ocean fertilization
The most researched type of geoengineering is ocean fertilization. How it works is that iron filings are released into the ocean, which stimulates photosynthesis in phytoplankton, that then consume dissolved CO₂ before dying and, for some of it, sinking to the low layers of the ocean and oxidizing. While researched, it has not had very much testing in an actual situation.
Marine cloud brightening
Marine cloud brightening
Another oceanic type of geoengineering is marine cloud brightening. To attain this, seawater is atomized (converted into very fine particles), and then sprayed from a boat. The water droplets then mix up with the clouds, and that brightens the clouds a little bit. This could help stop coral bleaching. Scientists surveyed 1036 reefs, and 25% of them had severe bleaching. Coral bleaching occurs when the water corals are in gets too warm. When they are too warm corals expel the algae living in their tissues, that causes them to be completely white. If we continue on our current course, 90% of all coral reefs may be gone by 2050.
Stratospheric aerosol injection
Stratospheric aerosol injection
One of the less researched methods of geoengineering is stratospheric aerosol injection. Stratospheric aerosol injection tries to mimic the ash from a large volcanic eruption by spraying reflective aerosols into the atmosphere via planes, to bounce light back into space instead of warming the Earth.
Infographic created by Ansel S.
Zero carbon algae
Zero carbon algae
Lastly, zero carbon algae is a way to remove CO₂, without using land that would be very useful for other things because it is on a remote coastal desert. It is also largely scaleable and not too expensive. Zero carbon algae tries to mimic algae blooms that occur in the ocean, by drawing in seawater from 2-3 km offshore and growing algae in the pool.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are a lot of new, very creative, and unique solutions for managing climate change, called geoengineering, and even more of them have come up recently. That being said, geoengineering has not had very much actual testing, apart from computer simulations and in labs. Geoengineering is a new and exciting way to help stop climate change by removing carbon that has been emitted into the atmosphere, but reducing carbon emissions is still an essential, and necessary, part of stopping this global climate crisis.
works cited
works cited
Advocate, Responsible Seafood, et al. “Experts: World’s Coral Reefs Could Vanish by 2050 without Climate Action - Responsible Seafood Advocate.” Global Seafood Alliance, www.globalseafood.org/advocate/experts-worlds-coral-reefs-could-vanish-by-2050-without-climate-action/#:~:text=The%20bleaching%20of%20branching%20coral,Photo%20by%20J.Accessed 18 May 2023.
“Coral Bleaching 101.” Gbrmpa, www2.gbrmpa.gov.au/learn-reef-health/coral-bleaching-101#:~:text=Out%20of%201036%20reefs%20surveyed,and%2025%25%20had%20severe%20bleaching. Accessed 18 May 2023.
“Could Solar Geoengineering Be the Answer to Slowing Global Warming?” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/solar-geoengineering-temperature-global-warming-climate-change/. Accessed 18 May 2023.
“Marine Cloud Brightening Engineers Clouds to Cool the Climate.” Geoengineering.Global, 3 Mar. 2023, geoengineering.global/marine-cloud-brightening/.
“Ocean Fertilization.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 21 Apr. 2023, www.britannica.com/technology/ocean-fertilization.
“Ocean Fertilization.” Wikipedia, 24 Apr. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_fertilization.
“Stratospheric Aerosol Injection: A SRM Geoengineering Climate Solution.” Geoengineering.Global, 3 Mar. 2023, geoengineering.global/stratospheric-aerosol-injection/.
US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “What Is Coral Bleaching?” NOAA’s National Ocean Service, 15 Mar. 2010, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html#:~:text=Warmer%20water%20temperatures%20can%20result,This%20is%20called%20coral%20bleaching.
YouTube, YouTube, 21 Apr. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZptyDhsmni8. Accessed 26 May 2023.
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