In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Shuchi Talati, founder and executive director of the Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering, about the potential for solar geoengineering as a tool to combat climate change. Talati discusses the science behind solar geoengineering, democratic and inclusive processes for engaging all nations in deliberation over the use of solar geoengineering, and public perception of the technology.

References and recommendations:

The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering; https://sgdeliberation.org/

“An Inconvenient Truth” film; https://participant.com/film/inconvenient-truth

Episode 4 (“2059: Face of God”) and Episode 5 (“2059 Part II: Nightbirds”) of “Extrapolations” TV show; https://tv.apple.com/us/show/extrapolations/umc.cmc.4uoqxmxlnipm9zsc88bkjyjx4

“Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment” by Abrahm Lustgarten; https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-crisis-niche-migration-environment-population

Including Every Voice in Solar Geoengineering, with Shuchi Talati

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Tyler Felgenhauer, a research director and senior research scientist at Duke University, about social science issues that are associated with solar geoengineering. Felgenhauer discusses different technologies that can facilitate solar geoengineering, the risks and benefits of these technologies, how international cooperation could affect the deployment of solar geoengineering, and recent social science research on solar geoengineering.

References and recommendations:

“Solar Geoengineering Futures: Interdisciplinary Research to Inform Decisionmaking” event on September 28 and 29, hosted by Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/events/conferences/solar-geoengineering-futures-current-research-and-uncertainties/

Solar geoengineering research at Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/comprehensive-climate-strategies/solar-geoengineering/

“Social science research to inform solar geoengineering” by Joseph E. Aldy, Tyler Felgenhauer, William A. Pizer, Massimo Tavoni, Mariia Belaia, Mark E. Borsuk, Arunabha Ghosh, Garth Heutel, Daniel Heyen, Joshua Horton, David Keith, Christine Merk, Juan Moreno-Cruz, Jesse L. Reynolds, Katharine Ricke, Wilfried Rickels, Soheil Shayegh, Wake Smith, Simone Tilmes, Gernot Wagner, and Jonathan B. Wiener; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/social-science-research-to-inform-solar-geoengineering/

“The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/586541/the-uninhabitable-earth-by-david-wallace-wells/

“Climate Change and the Nation State” by Anatol Lieven; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/climate-change-and-the-nation-state-9780197584248

New Social Science Perspectives on Solar Geoengineering, with Tyler Felgenhauer

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Kaitlin Raimi about public perceptions of solar geoengineering. Raimi, a social psychologist and associate professor at the University of Michigan, describes how only around 15 or 25 percent of people know what solar geoengineering is, and those who are aware tend to be wary of the concept. She discusses techniques to inform the public about the benefits and pitfalls of solar engineering, avoid political polarization, and prevent solar geoengineering from being seen as the only solution needed to tackle climate change.

References and recommendations:

“Public perceptions of geoengineering” by Kaitlin T. Raimi; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X21000385

Solar geoengineering research at Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/comprehensive-climate-strategies/solar-geoengineering/

“Cane Toads: An Unnatural History” documentary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_Toads:_An_Unnatural_History

Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

Nature vs. Unnature: Public Perception of Solar Geoengineering, with Kaitlin Raimi

Resources Radio is a weekly podcast by Resources for the Future. Each week we talk to leading experts about climate change, electricity, ecosystems, and more, making the latest research accessible to everyone.

New tracks tagged #solar geoengineering