Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal

Through this activity students will understand the role of geoengineering in addressing climate change. They learn that there are costs and benefits associated with geoengineering solutions, including environmental and social costs and benefits.

Teacher content information

Technology has an important role to play in addressing the impacts of climate change. Geoengineering is one such solution. However, it's a solution that requires 'tinkering' with the Earth's climate to counteract the effects of global warming and climate change. It's not simply a matter of installing a large fan and blowing the clouds in the right direction; geoengineering solutions are complex and expensive, and range from cloud seeding to removing carbon from the atmosphere to installing giant mirrors in space to deflect solar energy. Furthermore, many geoengineering solution carry significant risks.

The general risk associated with geoengineering is that we simply don't know what kind of an impact it will have on the Earth and its systems in the long term. How might geoengineering affect the climate system? What might the knock-on effects be for our environment and for future generations? How dangerous is it to further meddle with our climate system?

There are recent reports in the media that suggest that we now need geoengineering to help us fight climate change, because even if we drastically cut emissions tomorrow, we will be too late to stop the climate changing. But is it worth the risk?

The IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was created to:

provide policymakers (governments) with regular scientific updates about climate change;
highlight the impact climate change will have on the planet in the future; and,
offer some ideas about how to tackle the challenges of climate change's potential effects on the planet.

In 2021-22, the IPCC released their sixth assessment report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.

The report makes a number of important points:

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (B1). The report describes five possible climate futures, where #1 is not great and #5 is extremely bad. If we want to keep global warming at less than two degrees, which the IPCC says is the best-case scenario, we need to reduce our CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions significantly and start right away.

'Net zero' or 'carbon neutral' are terms that refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, so long as we're doing something else to reduce the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere at the same time, kind of like balancing a set of scales (more info).

Psychological safety. The IPCC Report sets a hard challenge. While this real-world issue is essential for students to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future is becoming darker and scarier by the day.

So, reassure students that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this report, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics around climate change and sustainability in your classroom through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider our PD course.

Student and classroom organisation:

Step 1.

Begin this activity by asking students to think of examples of issues - either historical or contemporary - where technology has contributed to the solution. For example:

The sharpening of stone into a blade or an axe as a tool during the stone age;
The use of a sundial to help tell the time;
The development of the steam engine for energy and power;
The invention of the telephone for communication; and
The invention of the refrigerator for preserving food.

Ask students to brainstorm their ideas, using the board to record their responses.

Step 2.

Next write the word 'geoengineering' on the board. Ask students to offer suggestions on what it might mean and how it might be applied.

According to the Oxford Dictionaries, geoengineering is "the deliberate large-scale manipulation of an environmental process that affects the earth’s climate, in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming."

In other words, it is a way of using technology to change or interfere with the natural systems of the earth in order to slow impacts of climate change and global warming.

Explain to students that some people think that the best way of dealing with the looming climate change crisis is to turn to technology. Of course when you're dealing with something as large and as complex as the climate then you're going to need something pretty large and significant to make any kind of impact.

In this activity students will be investigating some of these geoengineering solutions, looking at the possibilities and the pitfalls of these solutions.

Explain that there are many different types of geoengineering, but they mainly fall into four categories (a more detailed version of these solutions is available on the student worksheet). The most interesting and bizarre proposals fall under the first three categories, while it seems that the most practical and feasible fall under the last category:

Solar Radiation Management
Ocean Schemes
Space schemes
Greenhouse Gas Remediation

Step 3.

Break your class into groups and assign each group with one of the categories of geoengineering schemes above so that each category is covered by at least one group. Groups should then choose one specific scheme from the the categories, making sure that no two groups choose the same scheme (see the student worksheet for examples). Groups should undertake independent research to explore and consider the costs and benefits of the proposal they are investigating, including the financial, social, ethical and moral costs.

Ask them to imagine that they are preparing a sales pitch to deliver to an executive at NASA (played by the teacher), who will be funding the most promising geoengineering projects in a bid to save the planet from catastrophic climate change.

They will need to gather enough information to cover the following points:

A description of the technology proposed in their scheme and a scientific justification for this technology (i.e. what science is being used to support this technology);
How will they sell their scheme?
Why is their scheme the most promising?
What are the environmental benefits of their scheme?
What are the social, ethical or moral costs and how can these be justified?

If no information exists online for the final point, ask students to imagine what these costs might be for themselves.

Ask students to prepare a presentation (either PowerPoint of Prezi) that will be shared with the class. The presentation should answer the questions above, and should include supporting text and graphics.

Step 4.

Once they have completed their research and prepared their pitch, ask each group to present their solution to the the NASA executive. Be sure to ask questions regarding the extent to which environmental benefits will be achieved social, ethical and moral costs of their solution.

Assessment/Reflection

Ask students to use the Peer Assessment Rubric to assess the presentations.

In addition, ask students to reflect on the activity by answering the following questions (also available on the student worksheet):

Which geoengineering scheme do you think is most feasible (financially, socially, ethically and morally) and why?
What do you think are the most significant potential costs or risks of geoengineering?
Do you think the potential benefits outweigh the potential costs? Explain why or why not:
Do you think geoengineering is an appropriate solution to the challenge of climate change and global warming? Why or why not? What other solutions are available to us?

Homework/Extension

Using what they have learned about geoengineering, ask students to invent their own geoengineering scheme and brainstorm its costs and benefits. Their new solution can be entirely their own invention or an adaptation of an existing scheme. While their solution doesn't have to be economically viable, students should be prepared to justify it scientifically and ethically, and should consider the long and short-term costs and benefits of their solution.

Ask students to create a mind-map with two main arms (Science and Society) branching off from the geoengineering scheme. Students can use either bubbl.us or mindmeister to create their mind maps.

Geoengineering for a better future?

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