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Philosophy

The Ethics of Climate Engineering and the Precautionary Principle

Quick fact

Solar radiation management (SRM) could rapidly cool the planet, but research suggests that if it were stopped suddenly, the warming could occur at 10 to 20 times the current rate, a 'termination shock' that would be extremely hard for ecosystems and societies to adapt to.

Why this is interesting

Imagine a global 'Plan B' for climate change—a massive artificial process to cool the planet. Would you support it if it might stave off disaster, but could also backfire catastrophically? This is the ethical dilemma at the heart of climate engineering.