Asilomar meeting asks, what rules for geoengineering?

At the end of March, 200 scientists gathered at the Asilomar resort in California to try to determine how research into the possibilities of geoengineering the planet to combat climate change should proceed.

The scientists say it’s necessary because of the riskiness and scale of the experiments that could be undertaken—and the moral implications of their work to intentionally alter Earth’s climate.

The conference organizers declared that geoengineering research is “indispensable” but said that it should be done with “humility,” reports Science‘s Eli Kintisch . Governments and the public should work together to decide what schemes are “viable, appropriate, and ethical,” the statement added. Cuts in greenhouse emissions should be a priority, it said, mirroring statements by the American Geophysical Union and the UK Royal Society.

Wired’s Alexis Madrigal points out that this meeting harkens back to the February 1975 Asilomar meeting of molecular biologists hashing out rules to govern what was then the hot-button scientific issue of the day: recombinant DNA and the possibility of biohazards. The discussion and the eventual rules that came out of it, were messier than most would probably like to recall, adds Madrigal.

Yale University’s Eniviroment 360 reporter Jeff Goodell also looked at a comparison between the two meetings , stating that Asilomar 2.0 seemed to pale in comparison. For one thing, geoengineering may be a scary idea, but the dangers were nowhere near as immediate as the unintentional release of genetically modified organisms, he says.

But should this group determine whether geoengineering should go ahead? Mother Jones‘s Jim Rendon talks to some groups who are worried about the potential risks involved.

Related Physics Today content Geoengineering: What, how, and for whom? February 2009Will desperate climates call for desperate geoengineering measures? August 2008Geoscience research for our energy future August 2008