Climate Engineering: Science, Risks, and Ethics

The provided text offers a comprehensive overview of climate engineering, also known as geoengineering or climate intervention, as a response to global warming. It meticulously distinguishes between two primary categories: Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), which aims to extract CO2 from the atmosphere, and Solar Radiation Management (SRM), designed to reflect sunlight back into space to cool the planet. The sources analyze the technological underpinnings of various methods within each category, such as Direct Air Capture (DAC) for CDR and Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) for SRM, while also evaluating their respective benefits, immense risks, and associated challenges. Furthermore, the text explores the profound ethical dimensions—including the "playing God" critique, moral hazard, and climate justice concerns—and examines the complex geopolitical issues and governance vacuum surrounding these potentially world-altering technologies.