Planetary Engineering: The Most Neglected Lever on Climate?

Climate change receives significant attention, yet the deliberate engineering of the planet to counteract it is often overlooked. 🌡️ Solar radiation modification (SRM), which includes techniques like injecting aerosols into the stratosphere and brightening marine clouds, could potentially offset a large portion of warming within a few years, with costs in the billions rather than trillions. Other methods such as ocean iron fertilization and enhanced rock weathering also present viable options for carbon drawdown.

However, these approaches come with considerable risks. SRM is affordable enough that it could be implemented unilaterally by a single nation or billionaire, leading to global consequences (the "free driver" problem). Current governance structures are not adequately prepared for this. This scenario is reminiscent of advanced AI, where the capabilities are advancing faster than the necessary oversight, raising complex questions about coordination and engineering.

Join us at Mox for a discussion on the science, risks, and governance gaps surrounding these technologies, and whether they should be prioritized within the Effective Altruism (EA) framework. No prior climate knowledge is required; skepticism is welcome! 🤔

Recommended Reading List — Geoengineering Salon 📚

No climate background needed. Ordered from most accessible to more technical:

Core

• SRM360 explainers
• Stardust startup coverage or heatmap.news/climate-tech/stardust-geoengineering
• Halstead (2018), SAI research and existential risk
• Biermann et al. (2022), The case for an international non-use agreement
• Parson & Keith (2024), Solar geoengineering: History, methods, governance, prospects

Optional — More Technical

• Smith & Wagner (2018), SAI tactics and costs
• Henry et al. (2025), Marine cloud brightening to cool the Arctic
• Parry et al. (2026), SAI, land carbon storage, and the Amazon
• Bach et al. (2023), CO₂ removal with iron fertilization

Optional — Frontier

• Sánchez & McInnes (2015), Space-based sunshades at L1
• Keefer et al. (2023), Seabed-anchored curtains for ice sheets

Optional — Fiction

• Neal Stephenson, Termination Shock (2021)
• Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future (2020)

Location: Mox, 1680 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA

Admission: Free entry! 🎟️

RSVP here — the organizer may request advance notice.