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Americans Cool on Geoengineering Approaches to Addressing Climate Change

Given the political and economic challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there is growing interest in finding alternative methods of dealing with climate change. In a new paper, Christopher Borick and Barry Rabe look at the American public’s attitude towards using geoengineering solutions as a means to combat global warming. Highlights from their findings include:

  • High levels of doubt among U.S. residents about the ability of society to adapt to a hotter climate and deep concerns about the safety and effectiveness of geoengineering options.
  • Two out of every three Americans said that they do not agree that we should shift attention away from trying to stop global warming and instead focus on adaptation.
  • Most Americans also reject the notion that adaptation to global warming will be relatively easy for humanity to achieve.
  • A solid majority of Americans do not believe that scientists will be able to find ways to alter the climate to limit problems caused by global warming.

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