Back-up strategy

Don't Wait for the Lifeboat: A Response to Geoengineering

What's wrong is that we have no real reason to believe that he can, in fact, build a working lifeboat from scratch in time -- or that we can, in fact, intervene in the planet's climate on a vast scale without disastrous consequences -- yet right now, those benefiting from inaction are already using the idea of possible lifeboats as an argument against fighting the fire, so to speak, with the idea being that since cutting emissions is "unrealistic" it's good we have a back-up strategy.

This is not good science, and it's not good science policy. At very least, serious proponents of geoengineering need to acknowledge the severe limitations on our actual knowledge of geoengineering, and point out that emissions reductions are a far more certain and safe approach.

Bruce Sterling on climate engineering

We Are As (lousy) Climate Engineers, so we might as well get good at it

Geo-engineering will have to be combined with something else to make it seem modest and palatable by comparison. I'd be guessing a climate military-diplomatic crisis, like a unilateral threat by an imperilled nuclear power. "Engineer now or we blow up the top ten carbon-emitting cities, including two of our own. And to show we're not kidding, we're damming part of draining Greenland with a 50-megaton crust-cracker."

Bad news and good news

But mostly bad news, I'm afraid.

Climate Change Could Choke Oceans for 100,000 Years

According to a simulation of planetary warming trends, failure to drastically cut greenhouse gas pollution within the next half century could choke Earth's oceans for the next 100,000 years.

With warmer temperatures reducing its ability to absorb oxygen, much of the water would become barren and lifeless. Oceanic food chains could be profoundly disrupted.

"What mankind does for the next several decades will play a large role in climate on Earth over the next tens of thousands of years," said geochemist Gary Shaffer of the University of Copenhagen.

New Science Could Help Solve Climate Crisis

A new science that seeks to fight climate change using methods like giant space mirrors might not work on its own, but when combined with cuts in greenhouse gases it may help reverse global warming, a research report said.

In the report published on Wednesday, researchers at Britain's University of East Anglia assessed the climate cooling potential of "geoengineering" schemes that also include pumping aerosol into the atmosphere and fertilizing the oceans with nutrients.

"We found that some geoengineering options could usefully complement mitigation, and together they could cool the climate, but geoengineering alone cannot solve the climate problem," said Professor Tim Lenton, the report's lead author.

Geoengineering: How to Cool Earth--At a Price

So far, however, relatively little research has been done on any of the approaches or on their potentially substantial and unpredictable side effects. "There’s a lot more talk than work," Caldeira says. "Most of the research has been at the hobby level." Some ideas do not merit much more than that -- scattering reflective particles over a large part of the ocean, for instance, would inevitably pollute it, and the particles would probably wash up on beaches fairly quickly. But others are harder to dismiss.

Cloud-seeding ships could combat climate change

This cloud-seeding proposal is one of a number of ideas put forward by scientists in recent years to "geoengineer" the Earth in response to climate change rather than, or as well as, deal with the causes of the change.

Photos: Tetrapod beaches of Japan

Hit the beach anywhere in Japan, and you are likely to see endless piles of tetrapods -- enormous four-legged concrete structures intended to prevent coastal erosion. By some estimates, more than 50% of Japan's 35,000-kilometer (22,000-mi) coastline has been altered with tetrapods and other forms of concrete.

Future archaeologists might wonder if these structures hint at the existence of a prior technological civilization or if they're merely the result of fortuitous natural forces.

The Chinese "Weather Manipulation Missile" Olympics

Sounding like a military operation, the Chinese government authorized the use of 1,104 cloud seeding missile launches from 4:00-11:39pm on Friday night to remove the threat of rain ahead of the 29th Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing. This was the first time the weather manipulation technique was used during any Olympic event in the history of the games.

10 Audacious Ideas to Save the Planet

And yes, I'm aware of the irony of linking to this article after posting the Carlin clip below. Quite honestly, I'm less interested in "saving the planet" (which, all things told, is doing just fine) as I am in saving my own hide.

Selfish? Possibly.

Don't throw away your garbage -- geo-engineer it!

David Keith: A surprising idea for "solving" climate change

Environmental scientist David Keith talks about a cheap, effective, shocking solution to climate change: What if we injected a huge cloud of ash into the atmosphere, to deflect sunlight and heat? As an emergency measure to slow a melting ice cap, it could work. Keith discusses why it's a good idea, why it's a terrible one -- and who, despite the cost, might be tempted to use it.

Keith addresses the geo-engineering option with unnerving finesse. My prediction is that someone -- whether an international agency or a single nation -- will opt for a geo-engineering quick "fix" before long before emission reduction alone can curb rising temperatures.

Think of it as choosing to use a nuclear weapon; it's not an easy decision, but when the situation is sufficiently dire there are always those ready to make it.

The Year's 10 Craziest Ways to Hack the Earth

Some say the extreme temperatures predicted for the near future call for extreme measures. Others say the solutions could be worse than the problem. In increasing order of unorthodoxy, here are the 10 craziest geo-engineering schemes of 2007.

Examining these massive circular mining sites, I can't help but be reminded of certain exotic formations on Mars.

(Thanks: PAG E-News.)

'Sunshade' for global warming could cause drought

Pumping sulphur particles into the atmosphere to mimic the cooling effect of a large volcanic eruption has been proposed as a last-ditch solution to combating climate change -- but doing so would cause problems of its own, including potentially catastrophic drought, say researchers.

Sulphur "sunshades" are just one example of a "geo-engineering" solution to climate change. Such solutions involve artificially modifying our climate to counteract the effects of human greenhouse gas emission.

(Via KurzweilAI.net.)

More high-budget geo-engineering schemes:

Could Crazy Technology Save the Planet?

"Of course it's desperation," said Stanford University professor Stephen Schneider. "It's planetary methadone for our planetary heroin addiction. It does come out of the pessimism of any realist that says this planet can't be trusted to do the right thing."