Geoengineering Too "Immature" to Combat Climate Change
The potential negative consequences of geoengineering the planetary climate remain too unclear to risk deployment at this point
| September 6, 2011
Image: NASA Earth ObservatoryNo geoengineering methods are ready for use to combat climate change, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released late last month, citing concerns about cost, effectiveness and adverse consequences.
"Climate engineering technologies do not now offer a viable response to global climate change," GAO said in the report commissioned by former House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.).
Interest in the technologies has grown amid the difficulty of enacting national and international policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many scientists believe that geoengineering could be a planetary "Plan B," a tool to use only if steep cuts to the world's greenhouse gas output fail to blunt global warming.
In its report, GAO said that "the majority of experts we consulted support starting significant climate engineering research now." But as it stands, geoengineering methods are "currently immature, with many potentially negative consequences," the report adds.
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