Scientists have proposed geoengineering to prevent the most severe effects of climate change, which may expose up to one billion more people to malaria.
The study, which is being prepared by a research team formed from the USA, Bangladesh, South Africa and Germany, also investigates the potential global impact of the use of solar radiation management (SRM) to combat global warming.
One proposed action would be to inject aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight into the universe, temporarily ‘pausing’ global warming.
While SRM is often discussed as a way to reduce climate injustice, the potential health effects of it are almost unexplored.
To simulate what malaria transmission could look like under two future scenarios, with moderate or high global warming, with or without geo-engineering, a team of eight scientists from the United States, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Germany.
The models identify the temperatures that best promote mosquito transmission and how many people live in areas where there’s potential to transmit.
Both medium and high temperature scenarios were predicted to significantly shift malaria risk between regions, but in the high-rate scenario simulations predicted that malaria risk would threaten one billion additional people across the geotechnical world.
“The implications of the study for decision-making are significant,” said Colin Carlson, an assistant professor at Georgetown College Medical Center and principal author on the study.
Geoengineering is often framed as a tool for climate justice. Today, our new study in @NatureComms challenges that idea, showing that solar geoengineering would create regional tradeoffs and potentially increases in malaria risk worldwide. (1/4)https://t.co/tckv88HIL0 pic.twitter.com/55hhbFhjcX
— Colin J. Carlson (@wormmaps) April 20, 2022
