http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=02102015
Given our heavy (seven billion strong) footprint on the planet and the “controversy” associated with the political realities of being human, it has actually been a pleasure to see the National Academies Press moving from titles reporting on climate indicators and impacts to titles discussing thoughtful climate intervention with intent. NAP has announced pre-publication editions (full text is now freely downloadable with free registration) of two new works: “Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration” and “Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth.” Risks and governance associated with albedo modification are especially poorly understood and require research, but carbon dioxide removal seems much less risky (Who argues with reforestation? But ocean iron fertilization?). Neither approach replaces reducing CO2 emissions, and social context is critical to the entire enterprise—we've been damaging our planetary climate in thoughtless and unintentional ways much too long.