The moment is grave.
On July 1st, it was announced that the average ocean temperature had risen to 20.98°C. Unprecedented! Also alarming, a third heat wave is forecast for this coming weekend? It is enough to unsettled many holidaymakers for whom climate change has become a reality, forcing them to ask questions they had never asked before.
It is now clear that people wonder whether they will tomorrow spend the spring in Andalusia and abandon snow-covered fields to a few privileged ones? Will we also visit the wastelands that have become the Emirates and their pharaonic constructions?
Will we attend outdoor events that are entirely climate-controlled? Will we abandon the centers of European cities that have become unbreathable? Will we again invest in luxurious second homes in the Lubéron or the Centre-Var at low prices?
… These questions, as we have written, have been asked for decades without the urgency being acknowledged. That is why policymakers are now making our next elections hinge on a debate about fans!
Fortunately, scientists have not been idle. In search of solutions, they are conducting research gathered under the umbrella of geoengineering. A broad term describing “deliberate, large-scale interventions in the Earth’s natural systems to combat climate change.”
Still relatively little known to the general public, especially in France, these technologies are the fruit of much more intensive research in Canada, Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom and especially in China. And some climatologists, including renowned ones, are envisioning their deployment on a large scale to prevent excessive warming.
On July 1st, it was announced that the average ocean temperature had risen to 20.98°C. Unprecedented! Also alarming, a third heat wave is forecast for this coming weekend? It is enough to unsettled many holidaymakers for whom climate change has become a reality, forcing them to ask questions they had never asked before.
It is now clear that people wonder whether they will tomorrow spend the spring in Andalusia and abandon snow-covered fields to a few privileged ones? Will we also visit the wastelands that have become the Emirates and their pharaonic constructions?
Will we attend outdoor events that are entirely climate-controlled? Will we abandon the centers of European cities that have become unbreathable? Will we again invest in luxurious second homes in the Lubéron or the Centre-Var at low prices?
… These questions, as we have written, have been asked for decades without the urgency being acknowledged. That is why policymakers are now making our next elections hinge on a debate about fans!
Fortunately, scientists have not been idle. In search of solutions, they are conducting research gathered under the umbrella of geoengineering. A broad term describing “deliberate, large-scale interventions in the Earth’s natural systems to combat climate change.”
Still relatively little known to the general public, especially in France, these technologies are the fruit of much more intensive research in Canada, Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom and especially in China. And some climatologists, including renowned ones, are envisioning their deployment on a large scale to prevent excessive warming.
Two broad categories of solutions
But, it is worth distinguishing two major categories of techniques that are based on very different approaches and carry different risks.The first category concerns solutions that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere in order to reduce its amount. Known, they include efforts to reforest forests, peat bogs, plant trees, or restore ecosystems that naturally absorb CO₂. But they also involve capturing CO₂ directly from the air with air-filtering plants that extract carbon dioxide, which is then stored underground. You follow?
Transforming vegetation waste into a stable charcoal that is buried in soils is also a solution that, in addition, improves soil quality. Meanwhile, there is knowledge of altering and spreading crushed rocks (such as basalt) on soils to accelerate chemical reactions that capture CO₂!
Second Solution: We Think More About Sunlight
The techniques grouped in this other category do not remove CO₂ but seek to decrease the amount of heat absorbed by the Earth.
Here are some more or less well-known examples, such as injecting aerosols into the stratosphere to scatter very fine particles that reflect a portion of solar radiation.
We can also proceed with brightening marine clouds by spraying seawater to render some clouds more reflective. Or, more simply, we can repaint roofs white or use highly reflective materials to achieve temperature drops of several degrees. As for high-altitude clouds that trap heat… We know how to modify them.
All these solutions, however, are not without risks and are debated among scientific communities worldwide that are experimenting with these approaches.
To be clearer, here are a few examples of ongoing experiments in the tourism destinations most affected by a complex phenomenon that will not spare us… and will spare us even less because the investments required are particularly heavy and risky.
Here are some more or less well-known examples, such as injecting aerosols into the stratosphere to scatter very fine particles that reflect a portion of solar radiation.
We can also proceed with brightening marine clouds by spraying seawater to render some clouds more reflective. Or, more simply, we can repaint roofs white or use highly reflective materials to achieve temperature drops of several degrees. As for high-altitude clouds that trap heat… We know how to modify them.
All these solutions, however, are not without risks and are debated among scientific communities worldwide that are experimenting with these approaches.
To be clearer, here are a few examples of ongoing experiments in the tourism destinations most affected by a complex phenomenon that will not spare us… and will spare us even less because the investments required are particularly heavy and risky.
Solutions in place around the world
- China operates the largest cloud-seeding program in the world to induce rain or snow in certain regions. The Great Green Wall is, for its part, a vast reforestation program aimed at slowing desertification, sequestering carbon, and protecting soils. Finally, the Middle Kingdom is also developing research on stratospheric aerosol injection.
- Dubai and the Emirates, designed and built to be full-time tourist destinations, regularly use cloud seeding to create artificial rainfall. A technology often cited as an example of meteorological geoengineering, even though it operates on a regional rather than planetary scale.
- Qatar uses technologies for emissions reduction with carbon capture and storage in natural gas facilities. The country also conducts research on greening desert zones and agriculture adapted to arid climates.
- In Iceland: the Orca and Mammoth facilities directly capture CO₂ from the air and store it in basalt rocks.
- In the United States: the SCoPEx project (from Harvard University) studied stratospheric aerosol injection, but outdoor trials were suspended.
- In Australia: researchers are experimenting with marine cloud brightening to protect the Great Barrier Reef from warming.
- Saudi Arabia, uncertain, has stepped back. Saudi Arabia, whose tourism ambitions have not escaped anyone, does not pursue a large-scale geoengineering climate program. Instead, it is investing heavily in technologies for local environmental modification and in related infrastructure. Confident, it has invested in the Trojena project, planned to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, outside the NEON framework.
But, facing difficulties in establishing a true snow-making system, the Kingdom, despite its billions, announced the postponement of the Games to an indeterminate date. Not only are water supply and management via desalination, storage, and recycling complex, but reinventing the local climate does not come easy.
As a substitute, Saudi Arabia announces the holding of smaller winter sport events in the coming years, in order to at least stay in the spotlight…
