Pandora's Toolbox
The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention

Net zero emissions is only the beginning. Smith explains the need for carbon dioxide removal and even solar radiation management to preserve our societies and ecosystems.

Wake Smith (Author)

9781316518434, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 March 2022

422 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.4 cm, 0.8 kg

'… the book will prove a useful reference for decades to come. ' Christian A. Tryon, American Antiquity

Reaching net zero emissions will not be the end of the climate struggle, but only the end of the beginning. For centuries thereafter, temperatures will remain elevated; climate damages will continue to accrue and sea levels will continue to rise. Even the urgent and utterly essential task of reaching net zero cannot be achieved rapidly by emissions reductions alone. To hasten net zero and minimize climate damages thereafter, we will also need massive carbon removal and storage. We may even need to reduce incoming solar radiation in order to lower unacceptably high temperatures. Such unproven and potentially risky climate interventions raise mind-blowing questions of governance and ethics. Pandora's Toolbox offers readers an accessible and authoritative introduction to both the hopes and hazards of some of humanity's most controversial technologies, which may nevertheless provide the key to saving our world.

Prologue
Part I. Climate Introduction: 1. Where Do We Stand On Climate Change?
2. Climate Science 101
3. What's So Bad About Climate Change?
4. Climate Negotiations
5. Climate Economics
Part II. Responses to Climate Change: 6. The Energy Transition
7. Other Mitigation
8. Adaptation
9. Our Descendants Will Demand Climate Intervention
Part III. Carbon Removal: 10. Natural Solutions
11. Industrial Carbon Capture & Sequestration
12. Direct Air Capture
Part IV. Solar Radiation Management: 13. Solar Radiation Management Alternatives
14. Stratospheric Aerosol Injection
15. Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Deployment
Part V. Social Ramifications of Climate Intervention: 16. Governance of Carbon Removal
17. Governance of Solar Radiation Management
18. Climate Ethics
19. Public Perception
Part VI. Prospective Research Agenda: 20. The Path Forward for Carbon Dioxide Removal
21. The Path Forward for Solar Radiation Management
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], Social impact of environmental issues [RNT], Pollution & threats to the environment [RNP], Conservation of the environment [RNK], Political geography [RGCP], Environmental economics [KCN], Geopolitics [JPSL]