Research paper 1

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON CLIMATE ENGINEERING 1

RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON CLIMATE ENGINEERING 2

Research Proposal: Climate Engineering

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Research Proposal: Climate Engineering

Introduction

Climate change has elicited mixed reactions across the world. Climate change arises when vast greenhouse gasses are emitted into the atmosphere resulting in global warming. While climate change skeptics contend that climate change is an imaginary issue advanced by naysayers, scientific evidence demonstrates that it is real (Keith, 2013). There is sufficient evidence showing that if no urgent measures are taken to address this global phenomenon, the future of earth’s existence will be put to danger. Already, many regions across the world are experiencing drought leading to severe famines, new strains of tropical diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis because of high temperatures in the tropics (Keller, 2014). Large ice sheets are melting in the Antarctica contributing to high sea levels. The adverse impacts of climate change are also seen in the extreme weather patterns such as floods that are predicted to increase both in frequency and intensity.

Research Question

Local and international efforts have been proposed to deal with climate change and its impact. However, competing political interests have proved to be a major stumbling block in making any significant headway in combating climate change (Keller, 2014). While carbon energy is cited for the majority of greenhouse gasses, major global powers such as the United States have campaigned against curbing climate change because of potential impact on the economy (Keller, 2014). Their opposition is reflected in America’s withdrawal for the Paris agreement on climate change that undertook to cut down carbon emission levels significantly. This brings forth the need to consider climate engineering as suitable alternative solution for addressing climate change. It is against this backdrop that this research proposes research question on climate engineering.

Research question: Is climate engineering effective in combating climate change?

Climate engineering refers to the large scale deliberate intervention aimed at overcoming climate change. The engineering process involves removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Keith, 2013). It also entails proper management of solar radiation to ensure that global temperature remain within acceptable range suitable for human habitation.

Research Hypothesis

This research hypothesizes that proper administration of climate engineering will yield desirable climate change outcomes. Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere can be achieved through ocean fertilization among other methods (Hulme, 2014). Science has shown that the ocean has many living things that use photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide. In particular the tiny single-celled organism called phytoplankton is known to absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide. Upon the death of the algae, they sink to the ocean floor retaining the carbon compounds with them.

The organism also requires iron content for their growth. This has led to suggestion that engineers can increase the amount of ocean iron to spike up the population growth of phytoplankton so that they can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Although this method may prove contentious because of potential damage to marine life, there are several other forms of geo-engineering that can be applied to curb climate change. Hamilton (2013) argues that climate engineering cannot be used as a substitute for gas emissions. The author suggests that while the potential for climate engineering techniques promises major impact in the future, they must be used in tandem with other conventional methods of limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

Significance of the Research

The research aims at assessing the reliability of climate engineering as an effective method of curbing climate change. The significance of this method stems from lack of political interest when alternative and cheaper methods of climate change are proposed (Hulme, 2014). Adopting legislations that limit the use of carbon power appears more conventional. However, lack of agreement on curbing greenhouse gases originating from the use of coal and other carbon substances suggest that it is unlikely this method would be adopted soon (Barrett, 2014). This research proposes a more radical approach through the use of climate engineering to drain the earth’s atmosphere of excess greenhouse gasses that occasion climate change.

Research Objectives

The aim of this research is to understand the concept of climate and how it relates to human development. Climate change has largely been overshadowed by controversies regarding the reliability of data used to arrive at scientific recommendations (Barrett, 2014). Most importantly the research aims at evaluating the potential for climate engineering as an important strategy to fighting global warming. This determination is crucial in the development of long term solutions to one of the most controversial and potentially dangerous phenomenon. In particular the objectives of research will be:

i. To understand the causes and potential impact of climate change

ii. To determine the strength and weaknesses of climate engineering as a method of curbing global warming

iii. To determine the implications of climate engineering as a long term strategy to overcoming climate change.

iv. To recommend forms of climate engineering methods that can potentially limit global warming

Methodology

This research will investigate climate engineering as a strategy to fighting climate change. The research will utilize secondary data drawn from peer-reviewed articles published within the last ten years. The researcher proposes to utilize qualitative descriptive methodologies to examine the practicability of climate engineering in modern science.

References

Barrett, S., Lenton, T. M., Millner, A., Tavoni, A., Carpenter, S., Anderies, J. M., ... & Folke, C. (2014). Climate engineering reconsidered. Nature Climate Change, 4(7), 527.

Hamilton, C. (2013). Earthmasters: the dawn of the age of climate engineering. Yale University Press.

Hulme, M. (2014). Can science fix climate change?: A case against climate engineering. John Wiley & Sons.

Keller, D. P., Feng, E. Y., & Oschlies, A. (2014). Potential climate engineering effectiveness and side effects during a high carbon dioxide-emission scenario. Nature communications, 5, 3304.

Keith, D. (2013). A case for climate engineering. MIT Press.