Climate engineering carries serious national security risks − countries facing extreme heat may try it anyway, and the world needs to be prepared

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Ben Kravitz, Indiana University and Tyler Felgenhauer, Duke University

(THE CONVERSATION) The historic Paris climate agreement started a mantra from developing countries: “1.5 to stay alive.” It refers to the international aim to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.8 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times. But the world will likely pass that threshold within a decade, and global warming is showing little sign of slowing.

The world is already facing natural disasters of epic proportions as temperatures rise. Heat records are routinely broken. Wildfire seasons are more extreme. Hurricane strength is increasing. Sea level rise is slowly submerging small island nations and coastal areas.

The only known method able to quickly arrest this temperature rise is...