A recent paper uses data from volcanic eruptions to estimate the effects that geoengineering with sulphate aerosols would have on agricultural production. It concludes that the damage that geoengineering would do to maize, soy, rice and wheat outputs (because of reduction in sunlight reaching the crops) would have roughly the same magnitude as the benefits of the cooling it would provide.

A report by the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council finds that negative emissions technologies (NETs) have ‘limited realistic potential’ and cannot be relied upon to remove carbon at the rate envisaged in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios for avoiding dangerous climate change.

Geoengineering to fix climate change could harm biodiversity, according to two modelling studies.

This paper, published in the journal Science, aims to establish a detailed “roadmap” for meeting the Paris climate goal. It provides not only a scenario for the CO2 emissions reductions needed but places attention on the many different policy actions needed to stay below 2°C warming. One of three main focus areas is agriculture and land use related emissions.

In this Nature Comment, Phil Williamson of the Natural England Research Council and the University of East Anglia, argues that in order for the climate goals agreed at the COP21 in Paris last year to be achieved, a full assessment must be made of the methods for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

This paper presents evidence that humans are undoubtedly altering many geological processes on Earth—and that we have been for some time. According to the international group of geoscientists the evidence is overwhelming that the impact of human activity on Earth has pushed us into a new geological era, a human-dominated time period, termed the “Anthropocene.”

Two reports this week by the US National Research Council look at whether humans could artificially steer Earth's climate by reflecting sunlight back into space, or by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The twin reports– Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration and Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool the Earth argue that carbon dioxide removal might have a place in a broader response plan, but sunlight-reflecting technologies are too risky.

In this Carbon Brief blog Dr. Rob Bellamy presents an analysis of geoengineering, discussing available alternative options, different perspectives and the complexity of applying such solutions to the real world. In presenting the results of past studies he concludes that despite the addition of more options and perspectives, there is a remarkable consistency of arguments in geoengineering proposals and alternatives.  Read the full article here. Read more about geoengineering on our website.