Risks of Climate Engineering Weighed as ‘Last-Ditch’ Answer
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It could be the plot of a science-fiction thriller: fertilize the ocean with iron to suck up coral-killing carbon dioxide or seed the skies with tiny droplets to block the sun’s rays.
In a report released Tuesday, a National Academy of Sciences panel found little evidence that researchers can deploy technologies to safely counteract global warming any time soon. Still, the academy concluded that the U.S. needs to start funding research in a bid to understand the technical and environmental hurdles of what scientists call geoengineering.