Professor Gideon Henderson on geoengineering - changing the earth's climate

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Professor Gideon Henderson on geoengineering - changing the earth's climate

02 Jun 2011

Speakers: Professor Gideon Henderson

Dr Gideon Henderson, Co-Director of the Oxford Geoengineering Programme, Oxford Martin School, discusses the environment and ways in which we could manipulate the biosphere to allow humanity to live sustainably. Henderson is clearly not delivering a tree hugger’s manifesto. But that does not mean he doesn’t hope humans should behave in a more environmentally friendly way, Henderson believes that it would be great if we all became eco-warriors, but efforts to cut CO2 emissions (Kyoto, Copenhagen, renewable energy) in our increasingly carbon hungry world just aren't working – in other words, he’s a realist.

For Henderson our ‘Plan B’ lies in geoengineering i.e. “controlling climate change, without controlling emissions”. Henderson outlines a number of these climate-controlling strategies, including: shading the earth by pumping aerosols into the air, dumping iron in the ocean to stimulate carbon absorption, and accelerating the natural weathering of rocks to achieve a similar effect (with the bonus effect of ending up with the useful building materials limestone and quartz). Henderson is under no illusion that these options aren’t perfect – “whatever we do is going to be big and ugly and expensive” – but they might just be necessary, and surely we would rather have the option?