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Geoengineering Policy and Governance Issues

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Abbreviations

Carbon geoengineering:

A variant of geoengineering also known as Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) concepts aimed at capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere by either enhancing existing natural sinks or by using chemical engineering technologies.

Geoengineering:

Also known as “climate engineering” refers to the deliberate and technological manipulation of the climate system to forestall the worst effects of global warming.

Governance:

The management of political issues and physical systems that relies not only on (traditional) government at state level, but upon a wider range of actors at the international (international organizations, minilateral clubs), substate (provincial and municipal government), and nonstate (industry, civil society, knowledge networks) levels with such management often involving coalitions across multiple levels and actor types.

Solar geoengineering:

A variant of geoengineering also known as Solar Radiation Management (SRM) concepts aimed at enhancing reflecting incoming sunlight back into space, preventing absorption by Earth’s atmosphere, surface or oceans, and thereby reducing global temperatures.

Weather modification:

An antecedent to climatic geoengineering focused on the manipulation of local atmospheric conditions to induce short-term, bounded changes in weather. Such methods are different from geoengineering methods in that they are smaller in scale and intent of atmospheric modification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Dr. Sean Low, Dr. Nigel Moore & Dr. Zhewen Chen

  2. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Dr. Keith McManamen

  3. Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Dr. Jason J. Blackstock

Authors
  1. Dr. Sean Low
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  2. Dr. Nigel Moore
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  3. Dr. Zhewen Chen
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  4. Dr. Keith McManamen
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  5. Dr. Jason J. Blackstock
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason J. Blackstock .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Low, S., Moore, N., Chen, Z., McManamen, K., Blackstock, J.J. (2012). Geoengineering Policy and Governance Issues . In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_703

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