Session 6: Design and implementation

Introduction

So far you have studied the detection, attribution and predictions of climate change and several possible methods of geoengineering to counter it. Now you will consider how to design these methods and put them into practice, not only scientifically but politically.

Figure 1 Some excerpts from Earth observations and models that you will explore in this session. Can you tell which are observations and which simulations?

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Figure 1 shows four images of Earth observation and modelling. The first two show a map of South and Central America and the Atlantic. The first shows red bands corresponding to latitudes equivalent to Central America and the Atlantic and violet bands corresponding to tropical latitudes. The next shows lines representing atmospheric circulation superimposed onto a map of the UK, France and the Iberian Peninsula, showing air circulation across the eastern Atlantic. The final image shows coloured bands (but no map), from red at the top of the image to violet at the bottom.

Figure 1 Some excerpts from Earth observations and models that you will explore in this session. Can you tell which are observations and ...

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

• appreciate there is a range of climate models of different complexities for different needs
• explain complex scientific predictions in a concise and accessible form suitable for a policy-maker
• understand a selection of experiments and real-world trials of geoengineering or related activities
• reflect on possible tensions around geoengineering decisions due to competing aims in implementation, governance and law.