Could we engineer a cooler planet?

After years of deadlock over climate policy, Congress appears poised to enact the first federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions this fall. Yet a growing number of climate scientists and scholars believe that such efforts are likely to be too little, too late to stop warming — and that, consequently, a broader view of our climate policy options is needed.

On Monday, the National Academy of Sciences will convene a workshop to explore the question of “geoengineering” the climate — that is, influencing the global environment in ways that would restore balance to the global energy system and cool the planet until emissions reductions take effect.

Why even consider such an extreme and potentially dangerous response to climate change, just when emissions limits are likely to be enacted? Such an idea may seem outlandish at first blush, but it deserves serious study.

Detroit News