The National Security Implications of the Emergence of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Technologies from an American Perspece

Stratospheric aerosol injection is a proposed climate intervention whereby aerosols might be deployed to deflect a small fraction of incoming sunlight.  It would not replace the need to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, but could buy time for emissions reductions or reduce the intensity of some climate change impacts.  It remains a highly controversial concept, but is the subject of increasing attention and research.  Wake Smith has previously published some of the world’s most detailed descriptions of what SAI deployment might actually entail.  Wake Smith has recently embarked upon a new project to view these prospective SAI deployment scenarios through a US national security lens.  This study group will explore both the specious notions and the realistic threats that derive from such a perspective and the policy implications that arise therefrom.  A presentation will be followed by open discussion.  Skeptics welcome.  Wake Smith is a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School who has published several papers on climate engineering and has written a forthcoming book on the same topic.