Geoengineering Won't Fight Climate Crisis - South African Expert

On a globe already pockmarked by extreme weather events, and a mere .4°C away from the thresholds of "dangerous climate change", nations as well as non-state actors are increasingly looking to technology to pivot humanity from self-imposed disaster on to the path toward salvation. Scientists say, however, that while possible, there are immense political, economic, ecological, ethical and other societal considerations to be aware of when tinkering with global climate, writes Ethan Van Diemen for Daily Maverick.

Professor Bruce Hewitson, South Africa national research chair on climate change and director of the Climate System Analysis Group said that technological alternatives to either halt or reverse the heating of the planet, at a global scale, comprise what is referred to as "climate geoengineering". The University of Oxford defines geoengineering as "the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth's natural systems to counteract climate change".

Hewitson explained: "I'm deeply sceptical of geoengineering, not because it's not feasible, but because it has very dangerous potential consequences. I think it is very valid to do research on it so we understand geoengineering options better. So doing research to look at its limits and viabilities is very valid, but I am deeply sceptical that it will ever be a viable option."

Hewitson's comments come in the wake of the release of the sixth assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report found that droughts will become more frequent at 1.5 °C of global warming, and more so as the level of global warming increases. The report also highlights and analyses the detail available in terms of climate change in southern Africa, reinforcing existing scientific evidence that the region is likely to become drier, and reductions in precipitation can already be detected.