Simulating climate interventions: Experts work toward climate resilient future at recent event

Human-caused climate change is widely seen as one of the most pressing challenges for scientists and policymakers to address in the next decade. Arizona State University held an international workshop at the Walton Center for Planetary Health as part of National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored research to use Earth system model simulations to better understand deliberate interventions in Earth's climate.

Summarizing this goal, project co-investigator Michael Barton details the questions driving their current research. 

“The world we know today is the result of unintentional climate intervention,” Barton, director of education and a professor in the School of Complex Adaptive Systems, said. “We may now need to intervene intentionally to reverse these changes. What interventions would be most effective, most beneficial, and least harmful? And how could they possibly be deployed in a world of diverse nations?”

The workshop convened an international community of stakeholders and users of Earth systems models to advise the project in seeking answers to these questions. Titled “Co-creating Useful and Usable Climate Intervention Simulations," the workshop was jointly hosted by researchers from the School of Complex Adaptive Systems and NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR). 

Between April 10-12, stakeholders in the world of climate science and modeling, mitigation and policymaking shared their perspectives on aspects of Earth systems modeling that would be most useful in making policy-related decisions.

The event also featured presentations by attendees, including discussions of proposed solar radiation management and carbon dioxide removal methods, governmental programs for climate technology assessment, and ongoing research investigating the impacts of climate change on economic, agricultural and environmental systems.

Kesse Asante, workshop attendee and graduate researcher at Louisiana State University’s Biophysical Ocean Modeling Lab, appreciated the breadth of perspectives represented and discussed throughout the event. 

“The meeting highlighted the value of working together across disciplines,” Asante said. “Collaborative studies bring diverse expertise, fostering comprehensive solutions to complex climate issues … this teamwork is vital in bridging the gap between scientific research and practical applications.

Alongside promoting interdisciplinarity in finding climate solutions, another key component of this workshop was gathering stakeholder input and perspective to help project scientists co-design accessible Earth system modeling research. In support of this aim, participants joined daily breakout groups where they shared what they viewed as necessary features for the most usable and useful version of climate intervention simulation models. This input is essential to the continued co-development and refinement of the climate-related simulations to be carried out by the hosting groups.

“The recent workshop was both sobering and inspirational,” social dynamics modeler Allen Lee said. “The scale of work ahead to reach a more climate resilient future feels overwhelming but the people thinking carefully about this and working on solutions are deeply skilled and passionate about getting us there.”

As a highlight of the larger project, NSF NCAR principal-investigator Peter Lawrence said the meeting brought together a wide range of world leading climate researchers with community partners and early career researchers to better define the integration of climate intervention research with national and international government and non government agencies. 

“The meeting was an integral place to present climate intervention research that informs and supports real world institutions and researchers,” Lawrence said. “This takes the idealized research out of the lab and makes it relevant and useful for our partners.”

Story by Amy Rieth (ASU) and Andrea Smith (NCAR)