Geoengineering is the intentional large-scale manipulation of theenvironment, particularly manipulation that is intended to reduce undesired anthro-pogenic climate change. The post-war rise of climate and weather modification andthe history of U.S. assessments of the CO2-climate problem is reviewed. Proposals toengineer the climate are shown to be an integral element of this history. Climate en-gineering is reviewed with an emphasis on recent developments, including low-massspace-based scattering systems for altering the planetary albedo, simulation of theclimate’s response to albedo modification, and new findings on iron fertilization inoceanic ecosystems. There is a continuum of human responses to the climate problemthat vary in resemblance to hard geoengineering schemes such as space-based mirrors.The distinction between geoengineering and mitigation is therefore fuzzy. A definitionis advanced that clarifies the distinction between geoengineering and industrial car-bon management. Assessment of geoengineering is reviewed under various framingsincluding economics, risk, politics, and environmental ethics. Finally, arguments arepresented for the importance of explicit debate about the implications of countervailingmeasures such as geoengineering.The possibility of using geoengineering—the deliberate manipulation of the plan-etary environment—to counteract anthropogenic climate change is deeply con-troversial. At least in name, geoengineering has largely been ignored in recentclimate assessments (1, 2). Under close examination, however, the distinction be-tween geoengineering and other responses to the CO2-climate problem proves tobe fuzzy. Use of the term geoengineering is shifting, as advocates of responsestrategies that were formerly labeled geoengineering now seek to avoid the term.Section 2 elaborates a definition of geoengineering; assessment of the implicationsof its shifting meaning are deferred to the concluding discussion.Historical perspective is vital to understanding the role of geoengineering inhuman choices about climate. The historical background sketched in Section 3shows that proposals to engineer the climate are deeply woven into the history ofthe CO2-climate problem. The focus is on the postwar rise of weather and climatemodification and the interweaving of its decline with rising concern about inad-vertent climate modification. The evolving status of geoengineering as a responseto anthropogenic climate change is examined through a review of U.S. climateassessments and the IPCC assessment reports.
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