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Scientists propose controversial plan to refreeze North and South Poles by spraying sulphur dioxide into atmosphere
A fleet of 125 military air-to-air refuelling tankers would release a cloud of microscopic sulphur dioxide particles at an altitude of 43,000ft (13km) and a latitude of 60 degrees in both hemispheres, slightly shading the Earth's surface beneath.
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Scaling Sustainability: Climate Intervention and Geoengineering with Wake Smith
In this episode, Wake Smith argues that future generations may be forced to take such dire actions to combat climate change and, if so, they deserve to inherit research done now to understand the potential feasibility and consequences of geoengineering.
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A review of Pandora's Toolbox
Wake's book, Pandora's Toolbox, has been reviewed by Geoff Hart for the Society for Technical Communication (www.stc.org). Geoff is an STC Fellow and science editor with more than 35 years of writing, editing, translation, and scientific communication experience.
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Challenging Climate - Wake Smith on Pandora's toolbox and the feasibility of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering
Jesse and Pete spoke with Wake about his new book and why he believes that our ancestors will demand climate intervention. We cover the climate context, and the tools in Pandora’s toolbox: carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management. Wake explains why high-flying jets offer a feasible means of deploying stratospheric aerosol geoengineering, and why the scenario of a billionaire “Greenfinger” implementing this is unlikely. We also touch on the international governance challenges that solar radiation management poses.
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Solar geoengineering is a ‘fire extinguisher’ for global warming, shark’s skin inspires underwater vehicles
In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, we talk about the pros and cons of injecting large amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere to offset global warming. Wake Smith of Yale University and Harvard University in the US explains how it could be done and emphasises that this solar geoengineering is not a solution to climate change but rather a “fire extinguisher” that could be used in an emergency.
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Geoengineering Earth’s climate future: Straight talk with Wake Smith
A new book, “Pandora’s Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention,” explores a number of ideas for pulling carbon out of the atmosphere or artificially cooling the planet, known collectively as geoengineering. The book argues that such dire actions may need to be taken by future generations to combat climate change, and if so, those generations deserve to inherit research done now to understand the potential impacts and feasibility of geoengineering.
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EnviroTec reviews Pandora's Toolbox
“It would be very difficult, but it could be done” is maybe the most exuberant appraisal to derive from Wake Smith’s detailed analysis of the climate intervention landscape as it currently appears. Pandora’s Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention explores geoengineering and carbon removal options varying across a spectrum of feasibility and cost.
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Pandora’s Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention by Wake Smith
On this podcast, Diana Paiva is joined by a lecturer at Yale University and climate researcher Wake Smith. Wake talked about his recently published book Pandora’s Toolbox, in which he talks about climate interventions and net-zero. He also talks about COP27 and the challenges to achieve climate targets.
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Wake Smith on the hopes and hazards of climate intervention
Today on This Green Earth, we speak with Yale University lecturer Wake Smith, who teaches a world-leading course on the topic of Climate Mitigation. The course syllabus forms the basis of his new book, Pandora's Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention. In his book, Smith offers readers an accessible and authoritative introduction to both the hopes and hazards of some of humanity's most controversial technologies.
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Climate adaptation, intervention & cooperation during wartime
It’s easy to lose sight of the big climate picture when markets are melting amid heightened wartime anxiety and the gas taps to Europe could be shut off at any moment. But today I took an hour to do just that with a last-minute guest on the podcast: Wake Smith, author and lecturer at Yale University, who teaches an undergrad course on climate intervention.
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Beyond Net Zero
Today we’re looking at the step beyond Net Zero: climate intervention or geo-engineering. Prior to his academic career, today’s interview guest had several executive roles in the aeronautical industry, including the presidency of a division of Boeing. In his new book, he says, “Geo-engineering in any form sounds like a terrible concept, until you peer carefully into the future and realise that not geo-engineering would likely prove worse.”
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Stop burying the public’s head in the 1.5°C sand
In this op-ed, Wake talks about the challenges of keeping the global warming under 1.5°C. The science community needs to be more candid with those outside the ivory tower about the climate destination for which we are headed. Whatever terrible impacts may be in store beyond the 1.5°C threshold are unavoidably in our future.
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Pandora’s panic button or why we should be thinking about solar radiation management
“Solar Radiation Management’ is a fancy way to say we should reflect some sunlight back into space. The new book Pandora’s Toolbox, the hopes and hazards of climate intervention takes us through not just the method, but the governance and ethics of this idea. Should we be making tools for future generation to use to clean up our mess? Listen in.
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The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention (Community Matters)
The public discourse around climate change remains fixated on reaching net zero carbon emissions, however net zero is only the beginning. According to Wake Smith (Yale Professor and Climate Intervention Researcher), unless we do so unexpectedly quickly, reaching net zero emissions will not be the end of the climate struggle, but only the end of the beginning.
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Climate change, Ukraine and pitfalls of international goodwill
In this op-ed, Wake Smith writes about the possible impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the global climate commitments. The commitments have been shaky to begin with, and now the countries might have been presented with a reason to further delay their net-zero timelines.
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Could spraying chemicals into the atmosphere 15 miles up reverse climate change?
Climate ‘geoengineering’ technologies, where particles are sprayed into the stratosphere to deflect more sunlight away from a heating Earth, have a height problem. Recent studies have suggested spraying aerosols into the atmosphere at huge heights – 15 miles up – to deflect incoming sunlight.
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New research study: 'Sky is not the limit' for solar geoengineering
Wake Smith, the lead author of the study, says: "This conclusion should alter how climate intervention models are run globally and shows that practical limits need to be weighed against radiative efficacy in designing solar geoengineering programs."
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Sensible Climate Targets Must Consider Costs as Well as Benefits
On the heels of the release of the newest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Yale University lecturer Wake Smith says that much discussion assumes that the best climate target is the lowest one, because that will minimize climate damages. But, he adds, that ignores the fact that the lowest targets entail the highest transitional costs.
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Earth911 Podcast: Wake Smith Opens Pandora’s Toolbox for Climate Change
Wake Smith, author of Pandora’s Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention, shares his assessment of the climate response and the strategies and technologies that can be used to end CO2 emissions and restore the planet to pre-industrial climate conditions.
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Yale professor says net zero is only the beginning of our climate challenge in new book Pandora’s Toolbox
Wake Smith, Yale professor, senior fellow at Harvard, and climate intervention researcher, says that if we don’t do something fast, reaching net zero emissions will only be the beginning of our climate struggles.
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Wake Smith on “After Net Zero”
"After Net Zero" climate discussion at Harvard University: achieving net zero emissions by mid-century would largely avert the climate crisis, whereas crossing the same threshold at the end of the century would likely lock in for generations climate damages that may prove utterly unacceptable. And yet, the latter scenario seems at least as likely as the former. With what tools would we cope with such an eventuality once emissions reductions have been exhausted?
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When science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson looked into the climate future, real science led him to mass heat deaths and then a desperate move to block the Sun. It is called geoengineering, where humans try to restore the climate we live in, with technology. Nobody loves geoengineering, but a growing chorus of philosophers, scientists, and engineers are weighing the options.Enter Wake Smith with his coming book “Pandora’s Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention” from Cambridge University Press. Wake taught a ground-breaking course about geoengineering at Yale. This is the clearest, most accessible book I’ve ever read on the subject. Wake was a high level executive at Boeing Aircraft, then went into the investment field. But he ended up tackling climate change.