Scientists Call for More Climate Intervention Research

The following open letter is from over 120 scientists, including many who study climate change and its impacts. It calls for more research into climate interventions, and it is in response to a recent paper in Frontiers in Science that opposes such research. The letter is also signed by experts and leaders in the climate intervention space.

Michael Spadoni (Pexels)

Open Letter

Climate change is accelerating, bringing more frequent disasters, destabilizing ecosystems, and straining societies’ ability to respond. Meeting this challenge requires rapid emissions cuts, removal of carbon pollution, and a full exploration of all potential tools that could help reduce climate risk and save lives. It is very unlikely that current Nationally Determined Contributions will keep the global mean temperature below the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 Celsius.

We are concerned that a recent paper in Frontiers in Science opposes research into five ideas that might help protect or restore the polar regions. The paper may give some readers the false impression that there is scientific consensus that research is unwise or distracting — while simultaneously acknowledging that many questions remain unanswered.

We disagree and express our support for continued research. To be clear: we do not endorse, and are not recommending, the deployment now of any climate interventions, including the approaches reviewed in the paper. Each raises distinct risks and uncertainties and must be evaluated with evidence, transparency, and international oversight. But the choice is not deployment now with research never — it’s research now to inform deployment, if ever.

We believe more research, not less, is urgently needed. And we trust our colleagues to recognize that our call for more research comes from the same concern they have for our shared planet. Responsible research into all potential tools that could help reduce climate risk is part of building a toolkit for managing that risk. And responsible inquiry will allow societies to distinguish harmful concepts from those that may prove to be effective.

Signatories

*Note: Affiliations are given for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement by the signer’s institution.

Robert Axelrod, PhD, University of Michigan

Anton Alferness, Paradigm Climate

Arowolo Victor Ayomide, Federal University of Technology Akure

Timothy Bartholomaus, PhD, University of Idaho

David Bercovici, PhD, Yale University

Jennifer Bonilla, PhD, Positive Polar

Frederic Bonou, PhD, Institut de Recherches Halieutiques et Océanologiques du Bénin

Olivier Boucher, PhD, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université

Ken Buesseler, PhD, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Justin Burton, PhD, Emory University

Andrea Ceccolini, Real Ice

Vint Cerf, PhD, Ice Preservation Institute

Todd Cherry, PhD, University of Wyoming

Brendan Clark, PhD, Cornell University

Stuart Corney, PhD, University of Tasmania

Peter Cox, PhD, University of Exeter

Charlotte DeWald, PhD, Arctic Climate Emergencies Response Initiative

Emanuele Di Lorenzo, PhD, Brown University

Michael Diamond, PhD, Florida State University

Alistair Duffey, PhD candidate, University College London

Philip B. Duffy, PhD, Spark Climate Solutions

Robert Dunbar, PhD, Stanford University

Joshua Elliott, PhD, Renaissance Philanthropy

Erin Emme, PhD candidate, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Amato Evan, PhD, University of California San Diego

Geoff Evatt, PhD, The University of Manchester

Stan Farkas, PhD, NASA (Retired), SecureTheFuture2100.org

Tyler Felgenhauer, PhD, Duke University

Andrés Felipe Cruz Mendoza, Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies 

Daniel Fortier, PhD, Université de Montréal

Paul Gambill, Breathing Room

Rupert Gladstone, PhD, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland

Katrine Gorham, PhD, Spark Climate Solutions

Nina Grant, PhD candidate, Rutgers University

Charles Greene, PhD, Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington

Dakota Gruener, Reflective

Marianne Hagen, NIVA

Claudine Hauri, PhD, International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Michael Harte, PhD, Oregon State University

Andrew Hennig, PhD, University of Virginia

Matthew Henry, PhD, University of Exeter

Adrian Hindes, Australian National University

Haruki Hirasawa, PhD, University of Washington

Michael F. Hochella, Jr., PhD, Virginia Tech

Denise Holland, Environmental Fluid Dynamics Laboratory 

David Holland, PhD, New York University

Matthias Honegger, Utrecht University

Hugh Hunt, PhD, University of Cambridge, Centre for Climate Repair

Alexander C. Ihle, PhD, University of Rochester

Detelina Ivanova, PhD, Climformatics Inc

Viktor Jaakkola, Operaatio Arktis

Jeremy Johnston, PhD, University of New Hampshire

Mara Karageozian, PhD, Arizona State University

Sadegh Karimi, PhD, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran

David M. Karl, PhD, University of Hawaii

David Keith, PhD, University of Chicago

Marc von Keitz, PhD, The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment

Brendan Kelly, PhD, International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Christine Klaas, PhD, Alfred Wegener Institute

Jasper Kok, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

David Koweek, PhD, Ocean Visions

Ben Kravitz, PhD, Indiana University

Ajay Kumar, PhD, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Burgess Langshaw Power, PhD candidate, University of Waterloo

Gary Latshaw, PhD, Securethefuture2100

Anh Le-Duy Pham, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

Xia Li, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

Hans van der Loo, Institute for Integrated Economic Research

Alex Luebke, PhD, Ice Preservation Institute

Douglas R. MacAyeal, PhD, University of Chicago

Michael MacCracken, PhD, Climate Institute

Marc Macias Fauria, PhD, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge

Douglas MacMartin, PhD, Cornell University

Ken Mankoff, PhD, NASA

Ron Maor, PhD, Stanford University

Seelye Martin, PhD, University of Washington

Pere Masque, PhD, Edith Cowan University

Dennis McGillicuddy, PhD, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Ilona Mettiäinen, PhD candidate, Arctic Center, University of Lapland

Colin R. Meyer, PhD, Dartmouth College

Brent Minchew, PhD, California Institute of Technology

John Moore, PhD, University of Lapland

Kathryn Moore, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Mathieu Morlighem, PhD, Dartmouth

Paul Morris, PhD, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Benjamin Narwold, UC Davis (Former)

Jerome Neufeld, PhD, University of Cambridge

Kerry Nickols, PhD, Ocean Visions

Russell Ogle, PhD

Thomas A. Okey, PhD, The Ocean Foundation

Edward A. Parson, PhD, Emmett Institute on Climate and Environment, UCLA School of Law

Janos Pasztor, Formerly Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (Retired)

Alek Petty, PhD, University of Maryland

Julie Pullen, PhD, Ocean Visions Board Member

Kwesi Quagraine, PhD, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research

Morgan Raven, PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara

Benjamin Redmond Roche, PhD, University College London/Co-CREATE

João Gabriel Martins Ribeiro, Federal University of Itajubá

Katharine Ricke, PhD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UC San Diego

Daniel Robeldo, Phd, Cinvestav

Katie Roche, PhD, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Finn Ross, PhD, The Blue Carbon Lab

Philip B. Russell, PhD, NASA (Retired)

Hannah Safford, PhD, Federation of American Scientists

Yernar Sailybayev, Caspian Environmental Consortium Ltd.

Seth Saltiel, PhD, Cornell University

Christian Schoof, PhD, University of British Columbia

Bridget Shayka, PhD, Ocean Visions

Rohit Shukla, Larta Institute

Lars H. Smedsrud, PhD, University of Bergen & Bjerknes Center, Norway

Sarah R. Smith, PhD, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San José State University

Anthony Strawa, PhD, NASA (Retired)

Jenny Suckale, PhD, Stanford University

John Taylor, PhD, University of Cambridge

Alexandra Turchyn, PhD, University of Cambridge

Michel Tsamados, PhD, University College London

Leonardo Valenzuela Perez, PhD, Ocean Visions

Cindy Wang, PhD, Cornell University

Yubo Wang, Stevens Institute of Technology

Hannah Watt, Durham University

Angelicque White, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Michael Wolovick, PhD, University of Bremen

Anya Wolterman, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Fonger Ypma, PhD, Arctic Reflections

Geordie Zapalac, PhD, Antora Energy

Liyun Zhao, PhD, Beijing Normal University

Steven Zornetzer, PhD, NASA (Retired)

Questions and media inquiries, please contact:

Craig Segall: craig@segallconsults.com
Vas Srivastavavas: vas@evergreenstrategygroup.com

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