Environmental Defense Fund announces first grantees in SRM research program

BOULDER, Co.—Environmental Defense Fund announced the first grantees in its Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) research program. These nine projects  will rely on data from past events like wildfires and volcanic eruptions to understand the potential impacts of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) on ecosystems, agriculture and the availability of water. 

"We know very little about these impacts, especially how they might play out at a regional scale on different types of crops, water supply, or important physical parameters like light availability,” said Lisa Dilling, Associate Chief Scientist at EDF. “These questions need to be studied to provide a stronger knowledge base for future decision makers. I’m looking forward to seeing what these projects find.” 

The projects include: 

• Utilizing wildfire proxies to evaluate SAI influence on water availability;
• Understanding the impacts of SAI on crop yields using wildfire smoke;
• Ecosystem productivity and crop yields under SAI: Understanding plant responses to diffuse radiation via ground and satellite observations;
• Recurring, long-duration wildfires to understand climate and ecosystem impacts of SAI;
• Preventing coral bleaching through SAI: An observation-based model to predict coral bleaching from both heat and light stress to assess impacts of SAI;
• In the context of extreme events and biotic interactions, how will SAI alter ecological structure and function?;
• Attributing aerosol-induced crop yield changes: Disentangling light partitioning effects from climate cooling using observations and crop models;
• Impacts of stratospheric aerosols on agriculture, ecosystems, energy, climate, health, and economies based on evidence from volcanic eruptions; and
• Impacts of SAI analog events on climate, hydrology and agriculture in Malaysia.

Large volcanic eruptions or wildfires that release small particles high into the atmosphere and reflect some of the incoming sunlight may offer insights into the impacts of a potential SAI deployment. We know from past observations that the particles released from these larger events can temporarily cool and shade the planet. However, prior impacts research has mainly focused on average changes to temperature, while research on how shading may also impact ecosystems, agriculture and water is limited. EDF aims to address that gap.

Data from these projects will help policymakers make more informed decisions about the potential deployment of SAI technologies. The projects will last one year. The scientists will publish the results, including data collected and/or generated in a space that is available to everyone, in accordance with our key principles.