Geoengineering: proactive measures to tackle climate change

As of 20 August, 2023, extensive parts of northern China including the capital city of Beijing had experienced arguably the hottest summer in recent years, recording consecutive days of high temperatures at or near 40°C. Against this backdrop, National Science Review (NSR) organized a web forum on a climate-related topic that needs more exposure to Chinese public and researchers alike: geoengineering. Compared to commonly-known methods to address climate change such as emission reduction, geoengineering proposes to take much more proactive measures such as injecting aerosol into the stratosphere to increase solar reflection, implementing iron fertilization in the ocean to promote microbial growth, and capturing and liquifying CO₂ and injecting it directly into exhausted oil fields. The forum was hosted by Prof. Tong Zhu of Peking University with four panelists. Together, they introduced the scientific backgrounds and implementations of these proactive measures and discussed the pros and cons anticipated by researchers so far. Fei Chai () Professor, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University Zhijun Jin () Professor, SONOPEC Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute; Dean, Institute of Energy, Peking University; Dean, Peking University Ordos Research Institute of Energy Shawchen Liu () Professor, Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University Jianhua Xu () Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Management, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering and Institute for Global Health and Development, Peking University Tong Zhu () (Chair) Professor, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University.