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Abstract

The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) is a coordinating framework, started in 2010, that includes a series of standardized climate model experiments aimed at understanding the physical processes and projected impacts of solar geoengineering (also known as “climate intervention”). Numerous experiments have been conducted, and several more have been proposed as “testbed” experiments, spanning a variety of geoengineering techniques aimed at modifying the planetary radiation budget: stratospheric aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening, surface albedo modification, cirrus cloud thinning and sunshade mirrors. To date, over 125 studies have been published that used results from GeoMIP simulations.

Here we provide an introduction to GeoMIP and its experiments. We discuss the knowledge that GeoMIP has contributed to the field of geoengineering research and climate scienc: what have we learned in terms of inter-model differences, robustness of the projected outcomes for specific methods and future areas of model development that would for the future. We also offer multiple examples of cases where GeoMIP experiments were fundamental for international assessments.

We provide a critical assessment of GeoMIP with an eye toward future priorities in simulation design and analysis. We discuss the next set of experiments we are working on, in light of future Climate Model Intercomparison Project scenarios and activities, highlighting areas of collaborations with other international projects and intercomparisons. We outline a series of criteria that should guide the development of future GeoMIP experiments and make them relevant to its participants and the broader community, centered around plausibility, policy relevance, scientific relevance and reproducibility.