0:00:05 – Veera Mitzner

Welcome to the Green and Bold podcast by Colorado State University. I am Veera Mitzner, the Director of CSU’s Climate Hub at Spur, and I will bring you conversations about some of the most consequential issues related to the changing climate. 10 or even five years ago, I would not have thought that I would be making a podcast season about climate intervention or geoengineering, as climate intervention is also often called. For those who aren’t familiar with the topic, geoengineering refers to the deliberate intervention in the climate system to counter climate change. It is an umbrella term for a variety of technologies and pathways. I held the very popular view that geoengineering is a distraction from climate mitigation, which means our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and that is also potentially very dangerous. Since then, my thinking has evolved as the scientific community has started seeing research on geoengineering more favorably.

0:01:02 – Veera Mitzner

Our emissions keep rising. The planet keeps warming. Despite all the wonderful progress we have made in clean energy and other sectors, hopes of cutting emissions quickly enough to avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change are fading. The scientific community is still not unified on this issue. Last September, a study published in the journal, Frontiers in Science, more than 40 experts in climate change and related fields argued that geoengineering would probably not work and would likely have dangerous consequences. The article triggered a response signed by 120 other scientists arguing that more research into geoengineering was urgently needed. This reminds me of the early conversations about climate adaptation, when adaptations measures were also seen as a distraction from mitigation. Will the same development happen with climate intervention, which of course is very different in scale and in terms of risk from climate adaptation? Will geoengineering eventually be seen as another supplementary tool in our toolbox?

0:02:07 – Veera Mitzner

What do we still need to know? There is so much to discover and discuss, and now it’s the time to find answers. Join me for conversations with some of the leading experts in this space. Subscribe now to Green and Bold wherever you get your podcasts.