---
title: "Even More Scientists Say Geoengineering Can’t Save Us"
description: "Geoengineering alone may not save us from the worst impacts of climate change, a study says, because greenhouse gas emissions do more than warm the planet."
date: "2020-11-17"
modified: "2020-11-17"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/even-more-scientists-geoengineering-cant-save-us"
categories:
  - "Climate Change"
  - "Environment"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "climate change"
  - "geoengineering"
  - "the digest"
---

# Even More Scientists Say Geoengineering Can’t Save Us

![Geoengineering alone may not save us from the worst impacts of climate change, a study says, because greenhouse gas emissions do more than warm the planet.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/even-more-scientists-geoengineering-cant-save-us.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Image via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Not Enough

A team of scientists built models simulating the planet's future — and they found that geoengineering alone won't be able to save us from the disastrous effects of climate change.

The [research](<https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/10/2003730117>), published Monday in the journal *PNAS*, shows that cooling the planet through geoengineering won't stave off all the impacts of global climate change, in part because atmospheric greenhouse gases alter more than temperature alone — the latest whiplash-inducing entry in the back and forth among scientists who say that geoengineering technologies will [either save us](<https://futurism.com/geoengineering-may-be-our-only-hope-for-surviving-climate-change>) or be a [total waste of time](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/geogineering-climate-change-wont-work>) if [not a disaster](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/geoengineering-world-war>) in their own right.

## Getting Dizzy

Even though the debate over geoengineering seems perpetually unsettled, it still draws lots of attention.

For instance, *[The Verge ](<https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/16/21569902/jeff-bezos-first-recipients-10-billion-climate-change-fund>)*[reports](<https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/16/21569902/jeff-bezos-first-recipients-10-billion-climate-change-fund>) that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will put much of the first round of his $10 billion climate pledge towards carbon capture rather than efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

## Hand In Hand

The main way that geoengineering falls short, according to the new study, is that it doesn't address how greenhouse gases might eradicate cloud cover, which in turn would lead to a vastly heated planet.

But the study specifically suggests that geoengineering won't save us if it's the *only* strategy we use to mitigate climate change — it could be a far more helpful tool if we also reduce emissions in concert with it.

**READ MORE:** [Simulations suggest geoengineering would not stop global warming if greenhouse gasses continue to increase](<https://phys.org/news/2020-11-simulations-geoengineering-global-greenhouse-gasses.html>) \[*Phys.org*\]

**More on geoengineering:** *[How Geoengineering Could Lead to World War III](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/geoengineering-world-war>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)