Solar geoengineering has the potential to boost plant growth and carbon storage in the Amazon, according to a study.
Global temperatures are consistently breaking records, with the last 11 years being the warmest on record. This has led to increased interest in solar radiation management (SRM), often called geoengineering, aimed at reducing or counteracting global warming by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth.
One SRM method that has received a great deal of scientific attention is stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). This involves injecting reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to artificially cool the Earth by increasing the reflection of incoming solar radiation.
However, concerns have been raised that SAI could suppress vegetation productivity by reducing sunlight and shifting rainfall patterns.
Researchers at the University of Exeter used five state-of-the-art climate models to test what would happen if SAI was used to cool the planet. They compared three scenarios...