COMMENT As politicians and governments squabble over the painful measures required to reduce man-made emissions of carbon dioxide – the main cause of global warming – we are hearing a lot more about technical fixes for climate change. Scientists and engineers are proposing a bewildering range of options for cooling the world, which go under the general name of geo-engineering; some are outlandish (such as mirrors in orbit to reflect sunshine away from Earth) and some more mundane (painting surfaces white).
In the UK the Royal Society and Institution of Mechanical Engineers have just issued reports on geo-engineering, and the US National Academy of Sciences is looking at the issue too. While these professional bodies rightly urge caution about unintended consequences, scientific excitement is in the air. With some politicians expressing enthusiasm as well, there is a risk that too much momentum will build up behind geo-engineering.
