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Title: First Simulations of Designing Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosol Geoengineering to Meet Multiple Simultaneous Climate Objectives

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026874· OSTI ID:1430438

In this work, we describe the first simulations of stratospheric sulfate aerosol geoengineering using multiple injection locations to meet multiple simultaneous surface temperature objectives. Simulations were performed using CESM1(WACCM), a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model with fully interactive stratospheric chemistry, dynamics (including an internally generated quasi-biennial oscillation), and a sophisticated treatment of sulfate aerosol formation, microphysical growth, and deposition. The objectives are defined as maintaining three temperature features at their 2020 levels against a background of the RCP8.5 scenario over the period 2020-2099. These objectives are met using a feedback mechanism in which the rate of sulfur dioxide injection at each of the four locations is adjusted independently every year of simulation. Even in the presence of uncertainties, nonlinearities, and variability, the objectives are met, predominantly by SO2 injection at 30°N and 30°S. By the last year of simulation, the feedback algorithm calls for a total injection rate of 51 Tg SO2 per year. The injections are not in the tropics, which results in a greater degree of linearity of the surface climate response with injection amount than has been found in many previous studies using injection at the equator. Because the objectives are defined in terms of annual mean temperature, the required geeongineering results in "overcooling" during summer and "undercooling" during winter. The hydrological cycle is also suppressed as compared to the reference values corresponding to the year 2020. The demonstration we describe in this study is an important step toward understanding what geoengineering can do and what it cannot do.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1430438
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-124386; 453040135
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 23; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 84 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (17)

A continuous latitudinal energy balance model to explore non-uniform climate engineering strategies journal October 2018
Best Scale for Detecting the Effects of Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosol Geoengineering on Surface Temperature journal December 2018
Comparison of the Fast and Slow Climate Response to Three Radiation Management Geoengineering Schemes journal November 2018
Holistic Assessment of SO 2 Injections Using CESM1(WACCM): Introduction to the Special Issue journal January 2019
Climate Response to Pulse Versus Sustained Stratospheric Aerosol Forcing journal August 2019
Halving warming with idealized solar geoengineering moderates key climate hazards journal March 2019
Persistent polar ocean warming in a strategically geoengineered climate journal October 2018
Can we use linear response theory to assess geoengineering strategies? journal February 2020
Technical characteristics of a solar geoengineering deployment and implications for governance journal September 2019
Stratospheric aerosol injection tactics and costs in the first 15 years of deployment journal November 2018
Multiple input control strategies for robust and adaptive climate engineering in a low-order 3-box model journal September 2018
Upper tropospheric ice sensitivity to sulfate geoengineering journal January 2018
Global streamflow and flood response to stratospheric aerosol geoengineering journal January 2018
Sensitivity of the radiative forcing by stratospheric sulfur geoengineering to the amount and strategy of the SO 2 injection studied with the LMDZ-S3A model journal January 2018
Exploring accumulation-mode H 2 SO 4 versus SO 2 stratospheric sulfate geoengineering in a sectional aerosol–chemistry–climate model journal January 2019
Climate system response to stratospheric sulfate aerosols: sensitivity to altitude of aerosol layer journal January 2019
Can we use linear response theory to assess geoengineering strategies? text January 2018

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