Cape Town – A team of scientists from UCT will embark on a study on the potential impact of solar radiation management (SRM) on the climate of southern Africa, as part of a global research initiative on SRM.
SRM has been proposed as a possible approach to reducing some of the risks of climate change, according to UCT.
The process, still theoretical, would involve the injection of reflective aerosols into the upper atmosphere to reflect away a small percentage of incoming solar radiation.
It would be the only known way to quickly reduce the increase in temperatures if this could be done in a safe and reliable way.
UCT said many studies had demonstrated that current Nationally Determined Contributions had set the world on a trajectory to 3ºC of warming, which will have a significant impact on the climate and climate extremes, ecosystem services and the global socio-economic system.
While SRM might be able to help reduce global mean temperature, there are uncertainties around geo-engineering and its impacts on climate.
As part of the eight grants awarded by the new Decimals Fund (Developing Country Impacts Modelling Analysis for SRM), the new research programme will try to understand how SRM might affect the climate system in southern Africa.
Dr Romaric Odoulami from UCT’s African Climate and Development Initiative will lead the project, with Dr Chris Lennard from UCT’s Climate Systems Analysis Group as co-investigator.
They will start by examining drought and heat extremes and the atmospheric dynamics that drive them using observations and climate models.
This information will then be used to assess the potential impacts of SRM on both drought and heat extremes, frequency of potential crop failure and the suitability of different crop types.
Odoulam said: “The Decimals Fund is a unique opportunity for researchers from developing countries to contribute to geo-engineering discussions.
"Our research project is the first in the region to explore how solar radiation management might influence damaging climate events and their impact on food security in southern Africa.”
Decimals was set up by the Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative, a non-governmental project founded in 2010 by Environmental Defence Fund, The World Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society to build developing countries’ capacity to evaluate and discuss SRM.