Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Solar geoengineering—deliberate reduction in the amount of solar radiation retained by the Earth—has been proposed as a means of counteracting some of the climatic effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. We present results from Experiment G1 of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project, in which 12 climate models have simulated the climate response to an abrupt quadrupling of CO2 from preindustrial concentrations brought into radiative balance via a globally uniform reduction in insolation. Models show this reduction largely offsets global mean surface temperature increases due to quadrupled CO2 concentrations and prevents 97% of the Arctic sea ice loss that would otherwise occur under high CO2 levels but, compared to the preindustrial climate, leaves the tropics cooler (−0.3 K) and the poles warmer (+0.8 K). Annual mean precipitation minus evaporation anomalies for G1 are less than 0.2 mm day−1 in magnitude over 92% of the globe, but some tropical regions receive less precipitation, in part due to increased moist static stability and suppression of convection. Global average net primary productivity increases by 120% in G1 over simulated preindustrial levels, primarily from CO2 fertilization, but also in part due to reduced plant heat stress compared to a high CO2 world with no geoengineering. All models show that uniform solar geoengineering in G1 cannot simultaneously return regional and global temperature and hydrologic cycle intensity to preindustrial levels.
DOI: 10.1002/jgrd.50646
Authors: Ben Kravitz, Ken Caldeira, Olivier Boucher, Alan Robock, Philip J. Rasch, Kari Alterskjær, Diana Bou Karam, Jason N. S. Cole, Charles L. Curry, James M. Haywood, Peter J. Irvine, Duoying Ji, Andy Jones, Jón Egill Kristjánsson, Daniel J. Lunt, John C. Moore, Ulrike Niemeier, Hauke Schmidt, Michael Schulz, Balwinder Singh, Simone Tilmes, Shingo Watanabe, Shuting Yang, Jin‐Ho Yoon
Institutions: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University of Oslo, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, CEA Paris-Saclay - Etablissement de Saclay, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Environment and Climate Change Canada, University of Victoria, Met Office, University of Exeter, Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ, Beijing Normal University, State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, University of Bristol, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Danish Meteorological Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Battelle, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government, European Commission, Met Office, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Norges Forskningsråd, Grand Équipement National De Calcul Intensif, Office of Science, Goddard Space Flight Center, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Awards: G122673668, G125460123, G1286236842, G138090931, G1632040200, G1677143136, G1863003419, G1899721271, G1947995952, G2372040455, G2506945562, G2510423872, G2660018790, Implications and risks of engineering solar radiation to limit climate change, G2988778103, G3083819904, G3207356259, SPICE: Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering, G391136020, G419881185, G42916606, Impacts of Geoengineering Using Stratospheric Aerosols, G4501827968, G498139845, G5076365615, G526230902, G5321382714, G5653134238, G5726405315, G613759197, Hadley Centre Climate Prediction Programme, G6902702339, G7560550554, G821644656, G969889393
OpenAlex ID: W1905430927