Transcript Today
Today: Geoengineering Geoengineering is purposeful human alteration of the environment. Farmland and cities are small to medium scaled geoengineered landscapes We already saw Dr. David Keith's video about reducing the intensity of incoming sunlight... http://www.ted.com/talks/david_keith_s_surprising_ideas_on_climate_change.html Geoengineering: If earth is instrumentally valuable, why should we not alter it to suit human needs? If it is intrinsically valuable, can we alter it without affecting other organisms? Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the impacts of Global Climate Change Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the impacts of Global Climate Change Local climate management has been/ is being carried out in Russia and China... Moscow’s plan is to disperse a mixture of silver iodide, liquid nitrogen and cement powder into clouds to trigger precipitation. The goal is to minimize snowfall in the city, but results in increased snowfall in the areas just outside Moscow where the clouds empty their load. http://www.nextnature.net/2009/11/moscow-wont-let-it-snow/ Controlling the weather in Moscow is nothing new. Ahead of the two main holidays celebrated in the city each year — Victory Day in May and City Day in September — the often cash-strapped air force is paid to make sure that it doesn't, well, rain on the parades. Cost ~$2-3 million http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1930822,00.html Beijing's weather was modified to keep the 2008 Olympics dry. In China there are 31 provincial or municipal weather-modification offices in China. The administration employs 52,998 people by its own count. http://www.plentymag.com/magazine/the_peoples_weather.php?page=1 Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the impacts of Global Climate Change... The Ocean A Novel Geoengineering Idea: Increase the Ocean’s Quotient of Whale Poop http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/04/23/a-novel-geoengineering-idea-increase-the-oceans-quotient-of-whale-poop/ Before commercial whaling began, baleen whales may have been the source of almost 12 percent of all the iron in the Southern Ocean’s surface water. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/04/23/a-novel-geoengineering-idea-increase-the-oceans-quotient-of-whale-poop/ Efforts to test the effectiveness of adding nutrients to the ocean have met with limited success. “Iron-Dumping Experiment Is a Bust: It Feeds Crustaceans, Doesn’t Trap Carbon” “Ocean Geoengineering Scheme May Prove Lethal” http://news.discovery.com/earth/geoengineering-carbonsequestration-phytoplankton.html http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/03/24/iron-dumping-experiment-is-a-bust-it-feeds-crustaceans-doesnt-trap-carbon/ Bill Gates Funding Geoengineering Research, including a plan to use ships to cool the ocean and decrease hurricane strength http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/01/bill-gates-fund.html#more, http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-07/bill-gates-files-patent-hurricane-killer-plan Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the impacts of Global Climate Change... Remove CO2 from atmosphere Machines to remove CO2 from atmosphere: Need area about size of Arizona... Where to put the CO2? http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/multimedia/2007/12/YE_10_geoengineering Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the impacts of Global Climate Change... Block incoming sunlight Increase cloud cover http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/multimedia/2007/12/YE_10_geoengineering Reflect sunlight from upper atmosphere/space March 2010 meeting convened top geoengineers, tried to develop guidelines, problems highlighted: Political issues and National security http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100330/full/464656a.html March 2010 meeting convened top geoengineers, tried to develop guidelines, problems highlighted: Political issues and National security Testing effectiveness may be difficult http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100330/full/464656a.html What does it take to change the climate? Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull Volcano is not enough http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/18/iceland-volcano-pictures_n_541994.html What does it take to change the climate? Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 What does it take to change the climate? Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 Lowered global temp. by about 0.5oC What does it take to change the climate? Mt. Tambora erupted in 1815. The eruption was so large the volcano went from ~14,000 ft. to ~9,000 ft. This is not Tambora, it is Pinatubo Tambora in 1815: Tambora's volcanic cloud lowered global temperatures by as much as 3oC. Even a year after the eruption, most of the northern hemisphere experienced sharply cooler temperatures during the summer months. In parts of Europe and in North America, 1816 was known as "the year without a summer." http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Outreach/AboutVolcanoes/do_volcanoes_affect_weather.html Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the impacts of Global Climate Change Today: Geoengineering