Plan B for a Warming Planet

Nov. 10, 2008 -- Earth needs a "Plan B" in the fight against global warming, in case efforts to curb greenhouse emissions fail or are inadequate, said an American scientist in testimony Monday to the British government.

Such a backup plan would probably need to involve climate engineering projects to deliberately counteract the effects of global warming. The engineering ideas that have been floated in recent years include injecting sunlight-blocking compounds into the upper atmosphere or building a gigantic structure in space to filter sunlight reaching Earth.

"Everybody keeps talking about tipping points and climate catastrophes," Stanford University climate researcher Ken Caldeira told Discovery News. "If you take the risk seriously, then you want to do two things: Reduce the chances of it happening, and if it does happen, then know what to do."

Related Content:

Caldeira addressed the U.K. Parliament's Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee.

"Only fools find joy in the prospect of climate engineering," Caldeira said in his prepared testimony. "It's also foolish to think that risk of significant climate damage can be denied or wished away. Perhaps we can depend on the transcendent human capacity for self-sacrifice when faced with unprecedented, shared, long-term risk, and therefore can depend on future reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. But just in case, we'd better have a plan."