A recent study funded by @DegreesNGO, executed by @peteirvine & others aims "to assess the impact of #SAG on Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the Gulf of Guinea & its causes using GLENS simulations performed under high anthropogenic emission scenario (RCP8.5)."
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"Study focus on two dynamically different regions:
🔸Sassandra Upwelling in Côte d’Ivoire (SUC, located east of Cape Palmas)
🔸Takoradi Upwelling in Ghana (TUG, located east of Cape Three Points)" 2/8
Results show that "in the SUC region, under climate change, there is an increase in SST (referred to as the current climate) all year long (by 1.52 °C on average) mainly due to an < in net heat flux (lead by the > in longwave radiation) & also in weak vertical mixing." 3/8
"Under SAG, SST decreases all the seasonal cycle with its maximum in Dec (−0.4 °C) due to a reduction in the net heat flux (caused by a diminution of #SolarRadiation) & an increase in vertical advection (due to an increase in vertical temp. gradient & vertical velocity)." 4/8
"In the TUG region, under climate change, SST warming is a little more intense than in the SUC region and SST changes are driven by an increase in the net heat flux and strong stratification." 5/8
"The cooling of the SST in TUG is similar to the SUC region, but contrary to this region, the cooling
under SAG is not only explained by a decrease in the net heat flux but also by the remote forcing of
wind changes at the western equatorial Atlantic." 6/8
Read open access paper on "Impact of Stratospheric Geoengineering on Sea Surface
Temperature in the Northern Gulf of Guinea" ⬇️ mdpi.com/2225-1154/11/4…
🚨Monthly Solar Geoengineering Updates (April'2026)🚨
From EU calls for an #SRM deployment moratorium & WHO-linked health-centered governance report, to Stardust publishing its own SRM rules, key SRM headlines you need to know from past month:
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The private SRM company publishes voluntary rules and safety guidelines, but experts raise concerns over transparency, unknown aerosols, and private control of planetary-scale interventions.
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2️⃣ WHO-linked report calls for health-centered SRM governance:
A pre-print urges SRM governance centred on human health, equity, and Global South inclusion, stressing SRM must never replace emissions cuts (“non-substitution” principle).
🚨Is direct air capture (#DAC) really worth the investment?
A new Nature Climate Change study shows that investing in wind & solar delivers 2-3× greater combined climate + health benefits than direct air capture across most U.S. regions, under the same budget.
Details🧵1/11
2/ DAC is often promoted as essential for net-zero, removing CO₂ directly from the atm. But most studies assess it in isolation, asking: “Does it work?”
This study asks a policy-relevant question:
“What are we giving up by funding DAC instead of alternatives?”
3/ Researchers modelled cost-equivalent investments across 22 U.S. regions (2020–2050), comparing:
Direct Air Capture vs Utility-scale wind & solar
Critically, they evaluated CO₂ reductions + air pollution + health impacts.
🚨What happens to tropical rainforests as CO₂ rises?
New research shows higher CO₂ boosts tree growth & C uptake by pushing roots to aggressively mine scarce phosphorus.
This strengthens the C sink now, but depletes nutrients, ultimately limiting long-term C storage.🧵1/11
2/ Scientists tested this in the Amazon by exposing forest patches to higher CO₂ (future-like conditions) and tracking how trees, roots, and soils responded over time.
3/ Step 1: More CO₂ → faster photosynthesis
Trees produce more sugars, grow faster, and pull more CO₂ out of the air.
🚨Green roofs + enhanced rock weathering (#ERW) could turn cities into carbon sinks.
A new assessment finds Europe’s rooftops could remove tens of millions of tonnes of CO₂ by 2060, with global potential reaching hundreds of MtCO₂/yr under ideal conditions.
Details🧵1/12
2/ The work is a conceptual, literature-based assessment combined with geochemical scaling.
It estimates CO₂ removal using theoretical maximum reactivity (100% mineral conversion) and extrapolates across urban roof availability in Europe and globally.
3/ Roof availability is a key input:
The study uses estimates that roofs cover ~30–32% of urban land area, and up to ~50% of impervious surfaces in dense cities, highlighting a large, currently underused surface for carbon removal deployment.
🚨A new study details that the climate value of algae & cyanobacteria lies not in CO₂ uptake alone, but in their capacity to generate long-lived, chemically recalcitrant C compounds, such as algaenan & carbonates that may contribute to durable sequestration pathways.
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2/ The study adopts a conceptual synthesis framework, integrating biochemical & geochemical evidence to examine carbon fate post-photosynthetic fixation, moving beyond uptake rates to study the thermodynamic and structural persistence of biogenic carbon.
3/ It constructs a functional distinction between:
1) Labile carbon fractions, which are rapidly cycled through microbial respiration
2) Recalcitrant fractions, which resist degradation & contribute to long-term carbon storage across terrestrial & marine systems.
🚨🗞️Monthly Solar Geoengineering Updates (March'26 Edition)🗞️🚨
From UN review of #SRM tech & its human rights impacts, to US organizations resisting SRM bans, plus new tools & research awards – SRM headlines you need to know from the past month:🧵1/13
1️⃣ @OHCHR_MENA seeks input on climate technologies - The UN Human Rights Office is collecting submissions on how SRM & CDR may impact human rights, with a report due later this year.
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2️⃣ US National Security Framing – ACCF report urges federal research and international governance to prevent rivals from gaining strategic advantage.