“Geoengineering – a serious alternative or a dangerous idea?” interview with H. Orri Stefánsson (13 September 2023)
A reserach subject of great interest for the Mimir Center is that of geoengineering — interventions in the Earth's natural systems to mitigate or counteract the effects of climate change. These interventions are often proposed as potential solutions to address global warming and its associated impacts, but they pose difficult problems. Project member H. Orri Stefánsson was interviewed by the Institute for Futures Studies about the dangers and uncertainty of geoengineering.
“If emissions don't significantly decrease in the coming years and more areas are affected by climate change, it's not unlikely that some state or group of states might feel desperate enough to try it. One reason is that the effect of injecting sulfate particles into the stratosphere would be rapid. If we succeed in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, it would take decades to see the effects, but according to some models, geoengineering could lower the average temperature in just a few months. That makes it a politically tempting idea. Moreover, compared to the estimated costs of reducing carbon emissions, it's relatively cheap.
On the other hand, the technology isn't quite there yet. In theory, particles could be released from airplanes, but such airplanes don't exist yet. Most companies that could manufacture them have ties to the United States, China, or Russia and produce mainly for their respective defense industries. So if China, Russia, or the USA don't want to pursue geoengineering, they can pressure these companies not to produce the airplanes even if other states want to buy them. That could slow down the process. Another factor that speaks against anyone trying this is the significant risks associated with the technology, and we can't really predict what will happen if it is deployed. “