What Are Sunlight Reflection Methods?
In this decisive decade for climate action, with rising temperatures driving extreme weather events and threatening ecosystems worldwide, the urgency to explore all possible strategies to lessen the impacts of climate change has never been greater.
Over the last several years, Cornell has mobilized expertise from across its campuses, colleges, global hubs, and network of international partners and collaborators to move knowledge to impact with a goal of mitigating the most dangerous climate threats of the future.
Now, ways to manipulate the global climate that have been contemplated for decades are being more seriously considered as tools to buy time while emissions are reduced in the coming decades. One proposed strategy that Cornell researchers are exploring is sunlight reflection methods (SRM), or solar radiation modification, which seeks to cool the Earth by injecting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect a portion of sunlight back into space. While still theoretical, this technique aims to temporarily slow the rate of global warming while other long-term climate solutions, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing carbon capture technologies, are implemented.
Since 2015, the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability has been at the forefront of research surrounding sunlight reflection methods, leading efforts to understand the potential risks and benefits of this often-controversial approach. Our faculty-led research plays a vital role in ensuring that sunlight reflection methods are evaluated responsibly, with a clear focus on scientific rigor, ethical considerations, and global collaboration.
