Political efforts to curtail GHGs are in the spotlight three months before the U.N-led summit in Copenhagen. The UK Science Academy advocates that more research must be done in geoengineering, so that the world could be ready for the worst if international climate talks fail, as Reuters reported. Top scientists from the island think that humans may have to reset the Earth's natural thermostat and develop new technologies to combat climate change. Geoengineering technologies can be divided between those that remove the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and those which reflect sunlight back into space.
The science of geoengineering cannot constitute a quick fix but it may be needed to delay a potential planetary catastrophe. Thus, as the Royal Society said in its recent report “Geoengineering the climate”, it deserves more research as an insurance policy.
However, emission reduction cannot be achieved by such technologies and the Royal Society recognizes this fact. But emergency measures might be needed if all else fails, as the president of the society recently said.
Britain's chief scientific adviser John Beddington also supports more research in such fields.
They are part of the solution. There's an enormous 'if' whether there'll be comprehensive action agreed in Copenhagen, whether it's going to be enough. There are also going to be (climate) emergencies and surprises such as acidic ocean risks as a result of carbon emissions.
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