Cited by 119Climate Change and GeoengineeringAtmospheric aerosols and cloudsClimate Change and Environmental Impact

Potential ecological impacts of climate intervention by reflecting sunlight to cool Earth

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Zarnetske, Phoebe L., Gurevitch, Jessica, Franklin, Janet, Groffman, Peter M., Harrison, Cheryl S., Hellmann, Jessica J., Hoffman, Forrest M., Kothari, Shan +6 more·2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

As the effects of anthropogenic climate change become more severe, several approaches for deliberate climate intervention to reduce or stabilize Earth's surface temperature have been proposed. Solar radiation modification (SRM) is one potential approach to partially counteract anthropogenic warming by reflecting a small proportion of the incoming solar radiation to increase Earth's albedo. While climate science research has focused on the predicted climate effects of SRM, almost no studies have investigated the impacts that SRM would have on ecological systems. The impacts and risks posed by SRM would vary by implementation scenario, anthropogenic climate effects, geographic region, and by ecosystem, community, population, and organism. Complex interactions among Earth's climate system and living systems would further affect SRM impacts and risks. We focus here on stratospheric aerosol intervention (SAI), a well-studied and relatively feasible SRM scheme that is likely to have a large impact on Earth's surface temperature. We outline current gaps in knowledge about both helpful and harmful predicted effects of SAI on ecological systems. Desired ecological outcomes might also inform development of future SAI implementation scenarios. In addition to filling these knowledge gaps, increased collaboration between ecologists and climate scientists would identify a common set of SAI research goals and improve the communication about potential SAI impacts and risks with the public. Without this collaboration, forecasts of SAI impacts will overlook potential effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services for humanity.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1921854118

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  • Reduced transpirational losses of water by vegetation, resulting from projected cooling by stratospheric aerosol injection and continuing high atmospheric CO2 concentrations, could leave more ground water available to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

    “Reduced transpirational losses of water by vegetation, resulting from projected cooling by SAI and continuing high atmospheric CO2 concentrations, could leave more ground water available to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems [61].”

    From Environmental consequences of interacting effects of changes in stratospheric ozone, ultraviolet radiation, and climate: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, Update 2024 (2025) · cites this paper as [61]

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  • Higher levels and swifter deployment of SAI would mean greater potential for disastrous impacts.

    “Higher levels and swifter deployment of SAI would mean greater potential for disastrous impacts (Trisos et al., 2018; Zarnetske et al., 2021).”

    From A Fate Worse Than Warming? Stratospheric Aerosol Injection and Global Catastrophic Risk (2021) · cites this paper as Zarnetske et al., 2021

  • Plant communities could transform their structure, traits, and geographical range, particularly under larger swifter SAI deployments.

    “Plant communities could transform their structure, traits, and geographical range, particularly under larger swifter SAI deployments (Zarnetske et al., 2021).”

    From A Fate Worse Than Warming? Stratospheric Aerosol Injection and Global Catastrophic Risk (2021) · cites this paper as Zarnetske et al., 2021

  • There are multiple potential objectives of SAI deployment, ranging from temperature reduction to precipitation management to biodiversity conservation.

    “There are multiple potential objectives of SAI deployment, ranging from temperature reduction (of different extents), precipitation impact management, to biodiversity conservation (Lee et al., 2020; Zarnetske et al., 2021).”

    From A Fate Worse Than Warming? Stratospheric Aerosol Injection and Global Catastrophic Risk (2021) · cites this paper as Zarnetske et al., 2021

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Authors
Zarnetske, P. L., Gurevitch, J., Franklin, J., Groffman, P. M., Harrison, C. S., Hellmann, J. J., Hoffman, F. M., Kothari, S., Robock, A., Tilmes, S., Visioni, D., Wu, J., Xia, L., & Yang, C.-E.
Affiliations
  • Michigan State University (US)
  • Stony Brook University (US)
  • University of California, Riverside (US)
  • The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
  • The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (US)
  • University of Minnesota (US)
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
  • NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US)
  • Cornell University (US)
  • University of Hong Kong (HK)
  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
Corresponding author
Franklin, Janet
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2021-04-05
Volume
118
Issue
15
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W3145236039
Cited by
119
References
150
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 12 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1
FWCI
8.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CUNY Academic Works (City University of New York) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Civil War Book Review (submittedVersion)
  • ScholarWorks @ UTRGV (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1937619, 1937699, 1617844, 1853697)
  • U.S. Department of Energy (SC-23 - RUBISCO SFA, TES SFA)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Geoengineering
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Environmental Impact
Keywords
solar geoengineering, stratospheric aerosol injection, geoengineering, ecological impacts, climate intervention, Earth albedo, anthropogenic climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem services, ecological risk, climate-ecosystem interactions

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