"Climate Intervention: What We Know, Who’s Involved, and What’s at Stake"

Wednesday, September 02, 2026 at 3:00pm to 4:00pm

SMAST East 101-103 : 836 S. Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford MA 02744
Callie Rumbut
c.rumbut@umassd.edu
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260

Department of Fisheries Oceanography
"Climate Intervention: What We Know, Who’s Involved, and What’s at Stake"
Dr. Kelsey Roberts
Postdoctoral Researcher, Fay Lab, SMAST

Wednesday, September 2, 2026
3:00 - 4:00 pm
SMAST E 101-103 and via Zoom

Abstract:

Our carbon emissions are driving unprecedented increases in global temperatures, and only their complete elimination will preserve a livable climate in the long term. Recent comprehensive assessments show that large-scale mitigation efforts are falling short: even optimistic emissions-reduction scenarios are projected to exceed the Paris Agreement's 1.5–2°C warming targets this century. This gap has motivated growing research into climate intervention, broadly divided into two strategies with distinct risk profiles. Solar radiation modification (SRM, via stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) and marine cloud brightening (MCB), aims to cool the planet by increasing sunlight reflection, but lacks a proven, scalable delivery technology and carries unresolved risks of regional heterogeneity and termination shock, alongside contested governance as private and philanthropic actors enter the space. Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) instead seeks to reduce atmospheric CO2 by accelerating ocean carbon uptake via abiotic approaches (ocean alkalinity enhancement, mineral dissolution, electrochemical methods) and biotic approaches (macroalgae and microalgae cultivation, biomass sinking); it is more publicly palatable and already advancing toward commercialization, though verification and ecological side effects remain open questions. Across both strategies, ecosystem responses are poorly constrained, from how marine systems respond to SRM's altered temperature, radiation, and circulation regimes, to how mCDR reshapes ocean biogeochemistry. This talk provides an overview of the current state of SRM and mCDR, emphasizing key knowledge gaps and the research efforts needed to close them.

Join Meeting:

https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93758230260

Meeting ID and passcode required. Email contact to obtain.

For additional information, please contact Callie Rumbut at c.rumbut@umassd.edu