{"678928":{"#nid":"678928","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Solar Geoengineering Could Save 400,000 Lives a Year, Georgia Tech Study Says ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen it comes to finding solutions to climate change, there\u2019s no shortage of technologies vying for attention, from renewable energy to electric vehicles to nuclear energy. One such contender, solar geoengineering, is favored by proponents who say it could quickly cool the planet and give the world time to fully implement efforts to limit emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut that promise comes with risks, which include potentially poorer air quality or depleted atmospheric ozone \u2013 both of which can cause serious health issues of their own.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new Georgia Tech School of Public Policy-led \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2401801121\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E published in the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) \u003C\/em\u003Esuggests that while those risks deserve further consideration, solar geoengineering could save as many as 400,000 lives a year through a reduction in temperature-related deaths attributable to climate change.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAn important question is how the reduction in climate risks from solar geoengineering compares to the additional risks its use entails,\u201d said lead author Anthony Harding of the School of Public Policy. \u201cThis study offers a first step in quantifying the risks and benefits of solar geoengineering and shows that, for the risks we considered, the potential to save lives outweighs the direct risks,\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHarding co-authored the \u003Cem\u003EPNAS\u003C\/em\u003E article with Gabriel Vecchi and Wenchang Yang of Princeton University and David Keith from the University of Chicago.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers studied a climate change mitigation strategy called stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), a type of solar geoengineering that involves spraying tiny reflective particles into the upper atmosphere. Those particles would then redirect some sunlight back to space and help cool Earth.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe authors used computer models and historical data on how temperature affects death rates to see how much solar geoengineering might affect death rates, assuming a 2.5-degree Celsius increase in average temperature from pre-industrial levels and similar approaches to climate change as seen in the world currently.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey found that cooling global temperatures by 1 degree Celsius with solar geoengineering would save 400,000 lives each year, outweighing deaths caused by solar geoengineering\u2019s direct health risks from air pollution and ozone depletion by a factor of 13. This means that the number of lives saved due to solar geoengineering-caused cooling would be 13 times the number of lives potentially lost from solar geoengineering\u2019s known risks.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany of those deaths would be avoided in hotter, poorer regions, the study notes. Cooler, wealthier regions could actually face increased cold-related deaths.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESolar geoengineering has generated millions of dollars in funding and a recommendation by the National Academies of Science that the federal government should provide millions more toward research and the development of a risk-risk analysis similar to what Harding\u2019s team produced. But the tech has also drawn concern, including from the Union of Concerned Scientists. That group says there\u2019s too much environmental, ethical, and geopolitical risk to proceed without much more research.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe authors caution that their study is an important starting point in better understanding solar geoengineering\u0027s promise and peril but is far from a comprehensive evaluation of the technology\u2019s risks and benefits.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey say their models are based on idealized assumptions about aerosol distribution, population and income growth, and other factors. They also can\u2019t capture all of the real-world complexities that solar geoengineering would entail. They note their study also does not address all of the potential risks of solar geoengineering, such as possible impacts on ecosystems, global politics, or the possibility governments will rely on the technology to delay politically difficult emissions cuts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStill, the researchers say, the study suggests that for many regions, solar geoengineering could well be more effective at saving lives than emissions reductions alone and is worth keeping in the mix as the world searches for the optimal ways to cool our warming planet.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s no perfect resolution to the climate crisis,\u201d said Harding. \u201cSolar geoengineering entails risks, but it could also alleviate real suffering, so we need to better understand how the risks compare to the benefits to inform any potential future decisions around the technology.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe paper, \u201cImpact of Solar Geoengineering on Temperature-Attributable Mortality,\u201d was published in the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E on Dec. 17. It is available at\u0026nbsp;https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2401801121.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe technology\u0027s risks appear to be outweighed by its benefits, according to the researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The technology\u0027s risks appear to be outweighed by its benefits, according to the researchers."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2024-12-17 19:15:55","changed_gmt":"2024-12-19 16:54:31","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2024-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675878":{"id":"675878","type":"image","title":"Tony Harding.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAssistant Professor Anthony Harding\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1734463109","gmt_created":"2024-12-17 19:18:29","changed":"1734463109","gmt_changed":"2024-12-17 19:18:29","alt":"\u0022\u0022","file":{"fid":"259552","name":"Tony Harding.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/12\/17\/Tony%20Harding.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/12\/17\/Tony%20Harding.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":386158,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/12\/17\/Tony%20Harding.jpg?itok=BlNN3n18"}}},"media_ids":["675878"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMichael Pearson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}