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Debates about solar geoengineering often move quickly to questions about whether the technology should be researched or eventually deployed. But those questions cannot be answered adequately if they are poorly framed. In this talk, Britta Clark, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, examines several recurring errors in public and academic discussions of solar geoengineering. By bringing these errors into view, she aims to clear the way for a more precise, productive, and honest debate over the role of solar geoengineering in the energy transition.

Videos SGRP Repository

Tue, May 19, 2026

Public and private research on solar geoengineering is on the rise. Nearly all proposals for large-scale research or deployment envision that, given the scale and scope of interventions like stratospheric aerosol injection, some level of international cooperation or coordination is necessary for both success and moral license. Geoengineering more broadly faces the challenge by many opponents that even research, particularly large-scale outdoor experiments, risk “mitigation deterrence” — a moral hazard slowing the commitment to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gases both by particular countries and under accepted international regimes. Along with the rise in research on geoengineering, there has been a flurry of proposed resolutions and well-organized campaigns in multilateral forums to limit all deployment and some research on solar geoengineering, most prominently advocacy for a global Non-Use Agreement. In this talk, Andrew Light will explore the current landscape of international debates on climate engineering and then try to address the question of whether it is feasible to get sufficient international coordination to attempt some form of climate engineering, and the conditions that would be necessary for some measure of international acceptance of it, as well as the broader problem of how to address the ethical, even existential, challenges to large-scale research or deployment.

Videos SGRP Repository

Thu, Apr 2, 2026

Cirrus clouds – thin, wispy, high-altitude clouds made of ice crystals – play a critical role in Earth’s radiation balance, reflecting incoming solar radiation while trapping outgoing longwave radiation. Because of this dual role, changes to cirrus clouds can result in either warming or cooling in nontrivial ways. The microphysical properties of cirrus clouds, such as the number, size, and shape of ice crystals, influence their radiative effects, and are also highly sensitive to environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, and the presence of aerosols. While stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) aims to cool Earth's surface by scattering incoming solar radiation, the strategy’s impacts on cirrus microphysics remain poorly understood, potentially leading to unintended consequences. In this seminar, Prof. Zhiming Kuang gives an overview of his ongoing research on aerosol–cirrus interactions, combining high-resolution simulations, aircraft measurements, and machine learning to provide critical insights into the potential climate impacts of cirrus modification from SAI.

Videos SGRP Repository

Wed, Feb 18, 2026

Frank Keutsch’s case for cautious curiosity on climate intervention

In a new podcast, the Harvard atmospheric chemist argues for small, transparent studies to answer basic science questions about solar geoengineering – not for deployment.

News SGRP

Thu, Sep 4, 2025

New paper: Who Could Deploy Stratospheric Aerosol Injection?

The United States and China are the only countries that could carry out stratospheric aerosol injection at scale over the objections of other nations. In a new paper, members of Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program describe implications for policy, diplomacy, governance, and justice.

Solar Geoengineering Research Program News SGRP

Mon, Apr 28, 2025

"Captured Futures: Producing the inevitability of solar geoengineering" with Dr. Jeroen Oomen, Assistant Professor at the Urban Futures Studio at Utrecth University. Based on his upcoming Captured Futures: Rethinking the Drama of Environmental Politics (with Maarten Hajer, e-book out late April 2025), Jeroen Oomen argues that ever larger, ever riskier, and ever more speculative technological ‘solutions’ now maintain the legitimacy of politics as usual. Increasingly, interventions such as solar geoengineering appear as a political necessity to maintain the suggestion that climate politics can still succeed – inhibiting both political and scientific deliberations about the feasibility and desirability of these technological inventions.

Videos SGRP Repository

Tue, Apr 22, 2025

Doug MacMartin, Cornell University, presents as part of the Solar Geoengineering Research Program Lunchtime Seminar Series. To reduce the impacts of future climate change, it is essential to cut emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Given where we are today, it is unrealistic to assume that these actions alone will avoid significant climate change damages. But we also know how to deliberately cool the planet: adding aerosols such as sulfate to the stratosphere would reflect sunlight and cool the planet. Climate modeling suggests that this would likely reduce many of the impacts from climate change, with a few caveats.

Videos SGRP Repository

Mon, Mar 10, 2025

Call for Proposals: Solar Geoengineering

Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP) invites Harvard faculty members to apply for research grants to develop new directions in their research related to solar geoengineering. These grants aim to support innovative research across a variety of disciplines to evaluate solar geoengineering as a potential means to address climate change.

Solar Geoengineering Research Program News SGRP

Tue, Dec 10, 2024

SRM (solar geoengineering), deployed at scale, would affect every country in the world, but not necessarily equally. It could affect – for good or for ill - a nation’s security and stability, its economy and vital resources, and its social cohesion. But who would decide what the ideal temperature should be, and how? One thing is clear. That decision, if ever taken, will not be based on science alone. SRM is more than a potential tool to temporarily turn down the planet’s thermostat. It is inherently geopolitical; indeed, some postulate that SRM could be a new tool of geopolitical power and prestige. What do dozens of governments around the globe know and think of SRM? Why is interest in this transformational technology growing, and where might this lead? Is this climate politics as usual, or something different? As the planet continues to heat up, how might the world’s most climate-ravaged countries, and the world’s two superpowers, the US and China, respond? Finally, what does the second Trump administration’s rollback of climate action presage for the potential future use of SRM?

Videos SGRP Repository

Tue, Dec 3, 2024

Climate engineering is increasingly being discussed as a potential, temporary means of alleviating some of the worst effects of climate change. If society is going to pursue it someday, we need to have confidence that it will do what it is intended to do. So how do we know? Here I will discuss some of the things we know about the natural climate effects of climate engineering, how we know them, and what some of the largest uncertainties are. I will point out major gaps and offer a discussion of how the natural science research community might be able to close those gaps. There will ultimately be uncertainties that cannot be reduced, but some can potentially be managed, and some are likely irreducible. These discussions will form the beginnings of a roadmap toward responsible decision making around climate engineering.

Videos SGRP Repository

Tue, Dec 3, 2024

Are diamonds Earth’s best friend? Gem dust could cool the planet

Idea would cost trillions, but could avoid issues with other “geoengineering” schemes

Solar Geoengineering Research Program News SGRP

Tue, Oct 29, 2024

Daniele Visioni obtained his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics from the University of L’Aquila, in Italy, in 2018. He moved to Cornell in the same year, where he started as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. In 2022, he continued on as a Research Associate in the same department, and also became a Research Scientist I at the National Center for Atmospheric Science (NCAR). He joined EAS in the fall of 2023 as Assistant Professor, and retains a courtesy appointment as Affiliate Scientist at NCAR in the Atmospheric Chemistry, Observation and Modeling (ACOM) lab. He’s the co-chair of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP), and has been a coauthor of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2022.

Videos SGRP Repository

Mon, Oct 28, 2024

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SGRP Lunch Talk: Thinking Well About Solar Geoengineering

SGRP Lunch Talk: Is Politically Feasible and Morally Responsible Geoengineering Possible?

SGRP Lunch Talk with Zhiming Kuang

Frank Keutsch’s case for cautious curiosity on climate intervention

New paper: Who Could Deploy Stratospheric Aerosol Injection?

Captured Futures: Producing the inevitability of solar geoengineering

SGRP LUNCH TALK - Geoengineering with stratospheric aerosols: What do we need to know?

Call for Proposals: Solar Geoengineering

Solar Geoengineering Research Program Lunch Talk with Cynthia Scharf

Solar Geoengineering Research Program Lunch Talk Ben Kravitz of Indiana University

Are diamonds Earth’s best friend? Gem dust could cool the planet

Solar Geoengineering Research Program Lunch Talk with Daniele Visioni