Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) is a proposed stopgap climate intervention that may quickly and temporarily mitigate some of climate change’s worst impacts. However, there are profound and poorly understood implications of SAI deployment for species and ecosystems across the planet. Altering sunlight does much more than just lower temperatures. It would also create novel climatic and radiative conditions for the entire biosphere. An existing body of models and experiments on ecological responses to climate can be used to better project responses to SAI, but we do not yet have a coherent picture of how different ecosystems might respond to SAI. This undone science creates a risky situation, because exploratory climate modeling and atmospheric research on SAI that excludes ecological science would not accurately portray overall benefits and risks. This paper outlines for scientific community and decision-makers the shape and structure of the ecological science that needs to be connected to SAI knowledge and identifies consequential questions for investigation. Existing observational, experimental, and modeling studies can be leveraged to assess SAI risks and impacts. In addition, we offer practical considerations for designing research programs that can further understanding of how SAI would impact Earth’s ecosystems.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Buck et al. (2026) studied this question.