Granger Morgan, the head of the department of engineering and public policy in the Carnegie Institute of Technology, said that geoengineering is “always in the shadows or on the back burner” when it comes to addressing environmental issues. Alongside David W. Keith of the University of Calgary in Alberta and Edward Parson of the University of Michigan, Morgan aims to teach the public about the possibilities of geoengineering. Morgan’s particular type of geoengineering, known as solar radiation management (SRM), involves putting fine particles into the atmosphere, much like the smoke that enters the atmosphere after a volcano erupts. One of the suggested fine particles, sulfur dioxide, is actually a component of volcanic ash. These particles are effective at reflecting sunlight, thereby reducing the amount of sunlight that passes through the atmosphere. According to an opinion article Morgan wrote for the scientific journal Nature, the method’s relatively low cost (when compared to the larger cost of emission cuts) and the speed (it can reduce global temperatures in the time span of only a few months) are also big benefits.
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