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When Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it released millions of tons of sulfur dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere, causing global temperatures to drop nearly half a degree. Now, a new engineering field called geo-engineering, or climate engineering, is studying how to mimic the Pinatubo effect to combat global climate change, according to .

Scientists believe they could mimic the effect of Mt. Pinatubo by injecting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere using airplanes, according to the story. Sulfur dioxide particles would reflect sunlight back into space, reducing the earth’s temperature. But doing so could have serious global implications, including a change in rainfall patterns and drought and starvation in portions of eastern Africa. Other proposed geo-engineering projects include harvesting green algae in the oceans to absorb carbon dioxide and carbon sequestration.

Besides environmental issues, geo-engineering also raises political uses, according to the story. What if the U.S. government or any other government had the power to fund projects to set world temperatures at will? The United Nations Convention on Biologic Diversity recently called a moratorium on all geo-engineering projects until the science behind these projects can be better understood.