Discussion of direct and intentional interventions into the Earth’s geophysical systems to slow or buffer climate change—sometimes called “geo-engineering” or “climate engineering”—has heated up in recent years due to increasing evidence of large and otherwise irreversible climate impacts already underway. CATF’s view is that such interventions would likely be a last resort but need to be studied with respect to feasibility, effectiveness, reversibility, governance implications, unintended consequences and other issues. CATF has therefore supported the development of a US research program on this topic, serves on an expert panel convened by the Bipartisan Policy Center addressing this issue and works closely with Ice911, a research organization committed to the development and rigorous scientific evaluation of an engineering approach to preserve polar and glacial ice.
