Shows
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastMaking sense of calls for bans and moratoria for solar geoengineeringOn 9 April 2025, SRM360 hosted a live discussion on the growing debate surrounding moratoria and bans on solar geoengineering. Listen to the episode to explore the differences between bans and moratoria, the pros and cons of each, and policy discussions on the horizon with expert panelists Josh Horton, Julie Vinders, Joe Sonka, and Craig Segall. Note, since this recording the U.S. EPA published a new resource on geoenineering.Why is this relevant now?European Commission Review: The Commission is considering proposals for moratoria on certain SRM activities that were recommended by scientific a...2025-07-151h 01Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastField Experiments in SRMIn May 2025, the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) announced its initial round of awards for their "Exploring Climate Cooling" programme. The programme will ultimately dedicate £56.8 million to fund sunlight reflection methods research. Some of that funding will go towards field experiments. There have been only a few SRM field experiments to date, and some have been cancelled due to public pressure. In this episode, we explore what SRM field experiments have taken place, how they've informed scientific knowledge of SRM, talk with some of the scientists leading those experiments, and explore how outdoor field experiments of...2025-06-0323 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastLive Podcast: SRM and Africa - perspectives from the continentAfrica is home to many of the world’s least developed nations and its population is rapidly growing, making it one of the most climate vulnerable regions in the world. As such, Africa has much to gain, or lose, from the potential deployment of SRM. SRM360 hosts a live panel discussion at the Degrees 2025 Global Forum in South Africa with leading African experts about the future of Africa, the climate outlook, and the potential and risks of SRM for the continent.Moderator: Pete Irvine (SRM360.org & University of Chicago)Panelists:Babatunde Abiodun, University of Ca...2025-05-1449 minClimate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastWhat is Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB)?In this episode of Climate Reflections: The SRM360 Podcast, host Dr. Pete Irvine discusses the sunlight reflection method (SRM) known as Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB), which involves spraying sea salt particles below the cloud base to brighten clouds and reflect sunlight. The episode explores two different MCB field experiments by scientists, and discusses the technical, scientific, and ethical challenges of MCB. Joining us to explain Marine Cloud Brightening are experts Dr. Isabelle Steinke, Assistant Professor for Climate Engineering at TU Delft, Dr. Michael Diamond, Assistant Professor in Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University, and D...2025-05-0629 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastNews Roundup: major reports on SRM from Germany and the US, how to assess risk, and how emotions impact SRM opinionsTo discuss SRM news over the past month, we're joined by Chad Baum, behavioral scientist and Assistant Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, and Julie Vinders, Lawyer and Senior Research Analyst at Trilateral Research in the UK. We'll talk through the German Environmental Agency's recent policy report on SRM, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations' Climate Realism Initiative, that considers SRM as one of many interventions to "avert catastrophic global climate change". We'll also discuss Julie's article on how the precautionary principle as understood under EU law applies to SRM, and Chad's recent international study of over 30,000...2025-04-1533 min
Wicked Problems - Climate Tech ConversationsSolar Geoengineering: Ozempic or Chemo?Get full show notes and ad-free listening at wickedproblems.earth.It didn’t take a genius to figure out that passing 1.5C would result in previously-taboo ideas like scaling carbon removals and solar geoengineering would rapidly get traction in the mainstream discourse. I know it doesn’t take a genius because I wrote that >18 months ago.And as my bank manager and inlaws will (eagerly) tell you – “wait you’re quitting corporate... and… just as the political winds turn against it you’re going to…double down on a ‘media thing’ on climate and climate solutions?”...2025-04-0853 minClimate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastAir Pollution and SRMModern efforts to clean up air pollution started in the 1950s following the London Smog event, which killed nearly 12,000 people. Much of that pollution was caused by sulphate aerosols. The health and environmental impacts of sulphate pollution were well understood by the 2000s, but another impact was becoming increasingly clear: sulphate aerosols reflected incoming solar radiation, preventing some global warming. The realization that clean air legislation was contributing, in part, to global warming, led Paul Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist, to make an unorthodox suggestion in 2006: what if we added sulfate particles into the upper atmosphere, purposefully, to...2025-04-0120 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastNews Roundup: the next IPCC report, alternative aerosol particles, and moreIn a contentious meeting in late February, the IPCC agreed on outlines that include discussions of SRM for its 7th assessment report. For the first time in IPCC history, the US was notably absent, having been banned from participation by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Raymond Pierrehumbert and Michael Mann, two prominent climate scientists and critics of SRM argue that the UK government should pull the plug on their Advanced Research and Invention Agency - or Aria - which was created by an act of Parliament and intends to commit £56.8 million or about $73 million to projects that evaluate the feasibility, sc...2025-03-1831 minClimate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastSRM Governance with Cynthia ScharfCynthia Scharf has spoken with senior policy makers, UN officials, think tanks and NGOs across the world about climate change and sunlight reflection methods (SRM). Eight years ago, when she first began having these discussions, most people did not see SRM as a serious issue with implications for every country in the world. Now, they are interested. But as interest grows, the gap between the research community and policymakers' knowledge has also grown.Join our exclusive conversation with Cynthia Scharf, Senior Fellow at the Center for Future Generations, as she shares what policymakers are thinking about SRM...2025-03-0433 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastNews Roundup: James Hansen and SRM, Arctic Ice Project Shuts Down, New MCB Studies, and MoreWhat we'll cover:At the end of January, the Arctic Ice Project - formerly Ice 911 - announced they were shutting down. Why? A new study came out this month that draws on focus groups and a survey across 22 countries asking the public who they trust when it comes to information about carbon dioxide removal and SRM. What were the findings?A new literature review identifies research gaps across the field of SRM.Thoughts on a recent paper about SRM transparency problems.A discussion of a recent study focused on how to govern Marine Cloud BrighteningFamous scientist James Hansen's n...2025-02-1830 minClimate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastThe Geopolitics of SRMClimate change will disrupt the geopolitical landscape. So will Sunlight Reflection Methods (SRM). But might SRM help reduce international tensions by reducing the impacts of climate change? Or will these methods cause more or worse disruptions? For this episode of Climate Reflections, host Pete Irvine speaks with geopolitical experts to explore the current geopolitical landscape and how SRM might interact with it to impact international relations.Guests: Olaf Corry, Professor of Global Security Challenges at the University of Leeds, Beth Chalecki, Associate Professor of International Relations in the Political Science Department at the University of Nebraska, Omaha...2025-02-0418 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastNews Roundup: Hottest Year, SRM Under Trump, International SRM Discussions, And More2024 was the hottest year on record. Could that change how policymakers think about SRM? How might the new administration in the US approach SRM? Do experts think countries will effectively develop international SRM regulations? We discuss a recent paper examining the topic, and find that the outlook is not optimistic. We also discuss another recent study which found that although SAI would cause some deaths, implementing SAI could still save hundreds of thousands of lives for every 1 degree C of cooling, thanks to its reduction in climate change-caused heat-related deaths. Finally, we explore a new book chapter on Cirrus...2025-01-2130 minClimate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastWhat is Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI)?On June 15th, 1991, the densely populated island of Luzon in the Philippines awoke to an explosion that would turn out to be the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. Mount Pinatubo had erupted, releasing a huge cloud of volcanic ash, hundreds of kilometers across and 40 kilometers high. As satellites tracked the ash cloud spread around the globe several times over, atmospheric scientists noted that over the next year, the Earth's global temperature 2025-01-1422 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastNews Roundup: Live from the American Geophysical UnionHost Pete Irvine is joined by SRM researchers Lili Xia, Chris Lennard, and Tyler Felgenhauer for a live recording from the American Geophysical Union conference in Washington D.C. They discuss the latest SRM news including: the New York Times article on U.S. efforts to develop an early warning system to detect SRM deployment; Florida senator Ileana Garcia's bill to ban all "weather modification" activities; takeaways from the UNFCCC COP related to SRM; the latest research on the impacts of SAI to human health; the European Commission's chief scientific advisory recommendations on SRM; and more!Climate...2024-12-1730 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastNews Roundup: History of SRMFor this first News Roundup episode of Climate Reflections, we look back over the entire history of SRM and ahead to its future. For this, we are joined by 4 great guests with extensive experience working on this topic: Inés Camilloni, a Professor at the Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires and a Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental panel on climate change’s working group on physical science. Govindasamy Bala, a Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science who has worked on SRM longer than almos...2024-11-2643 minClimate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastWhat is SRM? Who is studying it and why?In our first themed episode of the Climate Reflections podcast, we present many different viewpoints from around the world on the role and risks of sunlight reflection methods (SRM) - proposals to reflect some of the sun's light back to space in order to cool the planet. Climate Reflections is a production of SRM360, a non-profit knowledge hub supporting an informed, evidence-based discussion of sunlight reflection methods. For more information and the latest research on SRM, visit SRM360.org.Follow us to stay updated on the latest episodes:LinkedIn: SRM360-orgTwitter/X: S...2024-11-2622 min
Challenging ClimateFarewellPete and Jesse must bring Challenging Climate to a close. Since starting the podcast almost three years ago, we have each taken on more professional responsibilities and no longer have the time for this volunteer effort. In this short recording, we describe what we are now up to:The Degrees InitiativeThe Degrees Global Forum on SRMSRM360Climate Reflections, the SRM360 podcast - coming soon to all major podcast platformsCo-CREATEWe also sincerely thank Gillian Cheong, our producer; our guests; our listeners, especially those who supported us via Patreon; and each other.Support the show2024-11-2408 min
Climate Reflections: The SRM360 PodcastAn Introduction to Climate ReflectionsClimate Reflections: An SRM360 podcast explores the science, ethics, and our current understanding of Sunlight Reflection Methods (SRM), also known as solar radiation modification, or solar geo-engineering. SRM are a set of methods being researched to reflect some sunlight back to space in order to cool the planet. This podcast will present the views of a wide range of experts working in this field and explore what we know, what we don't know, and the issues SRM raises. We’ll have two episodes a month. One will be our monthly News Roundup, where you’ll hear about all t...2024-11-1501 min
As the Drum Turns151: Quality Is A Habit with Mike ZagulaIn this episode of As the Drum Turns, Jeff & Tim are joined by Chief Technical Officer, Mike Zagula to discuss the second of our Five Principles: Quality, and how every single team member plays a role.SRM360 App (Apple): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/srm-360/id6444165153SRM360 App (Android): https://www.srm360.mobi/app/android/2023-01-2018 min