Stratospheric aerosol injection geoengineering has the potential to increase land carbon storage and to protect the Amazon rainforest

Parry, Isobel M.; Ritchie, Paul D. L.; Boucher, Olivier; Cox, Peter M.; Haywood, James M.; Niemeier, Ulrike; Séférian, Roland; Tilmes, Simone; Visioni, Daniele

doi:10.5194/esd-17-387-2026

Articles | Volume 17, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-387-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-387-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 2

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

22 Apr 2026

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 22 Apr 2026

Stratospheric aerosol injection geoengineering has the potential to increase land carbon storage and to protect the Amazon rainforest

Isobel M. Parry, Paul D. L. Ritchie, Olivier Boucher, Peter M. Cox, James M. Haywood, Ulrike Niemeier, Roland Séférian, Simone Tilmes, and Daniele Visioni

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-17-387-2026-supplement

Data sets

NCAR CESM2-WACCM model output prepared for CMIP6 GeoMIP G6sulfur G. Danabasoglu https://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/CMIP6.10034

CNRM-CERFACS CNRM-ESM2-1 model output prepared for CMIP6 GeoMIP G6sulfur R. Seferian https://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/CMIP6.3907

IPSL IPSL-CM6A-LR model output prepared for CMIP6 GeoMIP G6sulfur O. Boucher et al. https://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/CMIP6.5059

MPI-M MPI-ESM1.2-LR model output prepared for CMIP6 GeoMIP G6sulfur U. Niemeier et al. https://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/CMIP6.6448

MOHC UKESM1.0-LL model output prepared for CMIP6 GeoMIP G6sulfur A. Jones https://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/CMIP6.5822

Harmonization of Global Land Use Change and Management for the Period 2015-2300 G. Hurtt et al. https://doi.org/10.22033/ESGF/input4MIPs.10468

Model code and software

IP294/SRM-is-projected-to-increase-land-carbon-storage-and-to-protect-the-Amazon-rainforest: SRM-is-projected-to-increase-land-carbon-storage-and-to-protect-the-Amazon-rainforest release v1.0.0 (v1.0.2) I. M. Parry https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11507510

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Editorial statement

This paper deals with the effects of solar geoengineering that aims to mitigate climate change by the injection of aerosols in the stratosphere. It uses climate model simulations to show that there could be an additional benefit in doing so as the models indicate an enhanced productivity of the biosphere, and thus a greater carbon sink. This is a significant insight that could stimulate more debate and analyses with regard to the pros and cons of geoengineering.