Geoengineering guidelines are floated

Scientists have proposed a set of guidelines to assess the feasibility of solar geoengineering scenarios ( Oxford Open Clim. Change 2024, DOI: 10.1093/oxfclm/kgae010 ). With the guidelines, the researchers aim to give scientists and policymakers a way to evaluate the risks and benefits of injecting sulfur particles into the air—a process known as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). Solar geoengineering research has been taking place for years, but no one has created a full picture of whether the approaches being studied are technologically feasible or have unwanted side effects. The goal is to use the guidelines “to assess the current state of research” by mirroring the work of groups like the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), says Simone Tilmes, a project scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and coauthor of the paper. The WMO brings together scientists every 4 years to evaluate the health of the ozone layer. “That