Geoengineering is a controversial proposal to manipulate Earth’s climate in an effort to reduce global warming. As an emerging technology, geoengineering still requires intensive scientific research to determine whether it will be a viable long term solution to the ever-changing climatic conditions of the planet. Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull eruption, being low on the scale of dangerous volcanoes, is not anticipated by scientists to have any significant effect on global climate. However, it will provide important data to boost further study in the field of geoengineering and the effect of particular aerosols present in the atmosphere.
The spraying of sulphate aerosols into the upper atmosphere is one of the major proposed methods of geoengineering, with the aim of deflecting solar radiation away from Earth, thus cooling its climate. There are many arguments against this method as little is known about the effective range of atmospheric aerosols nor of their possible long term effects on humans, animals and plant life. Similarly, volcanic eruptions also eject large quantities of aerosols in the form of ash, dust and gasses high into the atmosphere giving scientists an idea of how they may affect climate and the distances they can travel.
With the recent deployment of advanced satellite systems for the purpose of collecting climate data, scientists are now better equipped to monitor atmospheric conditions and changes. The cloud of volcanic ash and gasses emitted by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano can now be more accurately monitored than was previously possible with the much larger Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991. Mount Pinatubo threw approximately twenty million tons of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere during its eruption, cooling global temperatures by up to half a degree Celsius over the following year. Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano has so far produced a tiny fraction (around one ten thousandth) of that figure, and is believed to have passed its most explosive stage, although it is difficult to predict its future behaviour. Of more concern is the nearby larger and more explosive Katla volcano, which historically erupts soon after Eyjafjallajokull. A Katla eruption could conceivably affect global climates and would almost certainly boost any geoengineering that may be in progress at the time.
While the question of the ethical implications of artificially manipulating our climate remains, undoubtedly the scientific data gleaned from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption will boost the efforts of those in favour of geoengineering, simply by the fact that they have more information to work with. Whether geoengineering ever becomes a common or necessary practice is another question altogether.
