http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?language=English&verbose=0&listenv=table&application=fm08&convert=&converthl=&refinequery=&formintern=&formextern=&transquery=geoengineering&_lines=&multiple=0&descriptor=%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm08%2ffm08%7c394%7c5221%7cInternational%20Collective%20Governance%20and%20the%20Need%20to%20Reduce%20Scientific%20Uncertainty%20about%20Geoengineering%7cHTML%7clocalhost:0%7c%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm08%2ffm08%7c54481073%2054486294%20%2fdata2%2fepubs%2fwais%2fdata%2ffm08%2ffm08.txt

 U41E-11
TI: International Collective Governance and the Need to Reduce Scientific 
Uncertainty about Geoengineering
AU: * Ricke, K 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 
5000 Forbes Ave, Baker 129, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States 
AU: Aina, T 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Climateprediction.net Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford, 7 
Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3QG, United Kingdom 
AU: Allen, M 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, 
University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, United Kingdom 
AU: Apt, J 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 
5000 Forbes Ave, Baker 129, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States 
AU: Morgan, M 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 
5000 Forbes Ave, Baker 129, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States 
AU: Steinbruner, J 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, 2101 Van Munching Hall, 
College Park, MD 20742, United States 
AU: Stier, P 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, 
University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, United Kingdom 
AU: Victor, D 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, Stanford University, Encina 
Hall E415, Stanford, CA 94305, United States 
AB: Geoengineering has been discussed for decades around the edges of the 
climate science community. However, today limited progress in abating emissions 
of GHGs makes the subject ever more salient. There is a growing need both for 
the foreign policy community to begin to consider how best to develop a 
framework for collective international governance of this issue, and to 
undertake research that will reduce uncertainty about the likely effectiveness 
and consequences of specific geoengineering technologies. In this paper we 
briefly outline insights on global governance gained from a workshop we to 
start a conversation about international governance that we convened at the 
Council on Foreign Relations in May 2008. This meeting's deliberations 
concluded that it is time to move studies of geoengineering and its impacts 
into mainstream research agendas. We outline some of the elements that such 
research should cover and then report on a study we are conducting based on 
simulations run using the climateprediction.net version of the coupled 
atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (AOGCM), Hadley Centre Coupled 
Model, version 3 (HadCM3) developed by the UK National Centre for Atmospheric 
Science. Past geoengineering modeling studies using AOGCMs have generally 
examined the effects of applying a constant geoengineering forcing. In this 
study we apply a range of 135 transient forcing scenarios designed to span the 
range of plausible uncertainties associated with countering anthropogenic GHG 
and sulfur aerosol forcings. Twin ensembles are being investigated for 
responses to IPCC A1B emissions scenario between 2000 and 2080, both with and 
without geoengineering activities starting in 2005. In our initial runs all 
models use identical parameter inputs, with the exception of an initial 
condition parameter. Geoengineering activities were mimicked in the models by 
modifying the volcanic aerosol radiative inputs, applied as variations in 
stratospheric optical depth over four zonal bands bounded by the equator, 30°N 
and 30°S. This work was supported by NSF cooperative agreement SES-034578. 
DE: 1600 GLOBAL CHANGE
DE: 1620 Climate dynamics (0429, 3309)
DE: 1626 Global climate models (3337, 4928)
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
DE: 6600 PUBLIC ISSUES
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting

[Comments.  This appears to be associated with that transient modeling work I 
posted on about a week ago.  The idea of transient geoengineering has some 
merit as does modulating its location, but the Brewer-Dobson circulation tends 
to spread precursor releases globally, so models that attempt to confine the 
aerosol to individual locations are probably invalid.  Temporal variation, on 
the other hand, could be done, but there one has to be concerned about 
temperature spiking when the forcing is turned off.  

In general, aerosol precursor released into the Overworld stratosphere above 
53,000 ft between 20N and 20S spreads globally and precursor released above 
those latitudes spreads only to the poles, not back to the tropics.  Think of 
the Brewer-Dobson circulation as a waterfall that starts in the tropics and 
remember that water doesn't flow uphill.  One idea I have been thinking about 
is what the impact would be on combining polar releases with tropical releases, 
such that more precursor is added to the polar region than would result from a 
tropical release only.  The analogy would be that if Pinatubo and Novarupta 
simultaneously erupted.  There are obviously lots of possibilities and even the 
135 models mentioned in the abstract probably do not cover all of them.  AG]

http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?language=English&verbose=0&listenv=table&application=fm08&convert=&converthl=&refinequery=&formintern=&formextern=&transquery=geoengineering&_lines=&multiple=0&descriptor=%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm08%2ffm08%7c390%7c2934%7cAcid%20Deposition%20From%20Stratospheric%20Geoengineering%20With%20Sulfate%20Aerosols%7cHTML%7clocalhost:0%7c%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm08%2ffm08%7c54577785%2054580719%20%2fdata2%2fepubs%2fwais%2fdata%2ffm08%2ffm08.txt

U43A-0041
TI: Acid Deposition From Stratospheric Geoengineering With Sulfate Aerosols
AU: * Kravitz, B 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Department of Environmental Science, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm 
Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States 
AU: Robock, A 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Department of Environmental Science, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm 
Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States 
AU: Oman, L 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 
N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States 
AU: Stenchikov, G 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Department of Environmental Science, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm 
Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States 
AB: We used a general circulation model of the Earth's climate to conduct 
geoengineering experiments involving stratospheric injection of sulfur dioxide 
[Robock et al., 2008] and analyzed the resulting deposition of sulfate. When 
sulfur is injected into the tropical or Arctic stratosphere, the main 
additional surface deposition occurs in midlatitude bands, because of strong 
cross-tropopause flux in the jet stream regions, and there are some larger 
local increases, specifically in Northern Canada and the Western Pacific Ocean. 
We used critical load studies to determine the effects of this increase in acid 
deposition on terrestrial ecosystems. For annual injection of 5 Tg of SO2 into 
the tropical stratosphere or 3 Tg of SO2 into the Arctic stratosphere, the 
additional surface sulfate deposition is not enough to negatively impact most 
ecosystems. Robock, Alan, Luke Oman, and Georgiy Stenchikov (2008), Regional 
climate responses to geoengineering with tropical and Arctic SO2 injections. J. 
Geophys. Res., 113, D16101, doi:10.1029/2008JD010050. 
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 1626 Global climate models (3337, 4928)
DE: 1699 General or miscellaneous
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting

[Comment.  And as I noted in my comments on the underlying paper, results from 
EPA's acid deposition monitoring program didn't detect a Pinatubo signature in 
1992-1994, because the volcanic aerosol drop out was so much less than that 
from power plants.  I also recommended that this analysis be carried out 
further, to see if there are any problems resulting from much larger aerosol 
loadings as the scenarios investigated assume an aerosol that would be more 
efficient in scattering sunlight than might be possible.  The case against acid 
rain hasn't been totally put to bed, but it has been sent to its room and 
ordered to turn the lights out.  AG]

http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?language=English&verbose=0&listenv=table&application=fm08&convert=&converthl=&refinequery=&formintern=&formextern=&transquery=geoengineering&_lines=&multiple=0&descriptor=%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm08%2ffm08%7c375%7c2904%7cGeoengineering%20of%20stratocumulus%20decks%20to%20counterbalance%20global%20warming:%20Pros%2c%20Cons%20and%20Side-Effects%7cHTML%7clocalhost:0%7c%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2ffm08%2ffm08%7c54476109%2054479013%20%2fdata2%2fepubs%2fwais%2fdata%2ffm08%2ffm08.txt

 U41E-09
TI: Geoengineering of stratocumulus decks to counterbalance global warming: 
Pros, Cons and Side-Effects
AU: Haywood, J 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Met Office, UK, FitzRoy Rd, Exeter, EX1 3PB, United Kingdom 
AU: Jones, A 
EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AF: Met Office, UK, FitzRoy Rd, Exeter, EX1 3PB, United Kingdom 
AU: * Boucher, O 
AF: Met Office, UK, FitzRoy Rd, Exeter, EX1 3PB, United Kingdom 
AB: Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning are the 
primary cause of global warming and the projected rate of temperature change is 
very likely to increase in the future. Many geoengineering solutions have 
recently been suggested to reduce global warming. Here we use a 
state-of-the-science atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a 
mixed-layer ocean model to investigate the climatic impact of geoengineering 
via modifying stratocumulus decks. The model's climate is more than twice as 
sensitive to modification of the South Pacific stratocumulus area compared with 
the North Pacific or South Atlantic stratocumulus area. This strong sensitivity 
is associated with the cooling of sea-surface temperatures in the southern 
Pacific inducing patterns of temperature and precipitation response resembling 
La Niña conditions. If the southern Atlantic stratocumulus sheet is 
geoengineered, the model suggests an El Niño-like response with precipitation 
reduced by 15percent over South America as a whole, but a 30percent reduction 
over Amazonia. If all stratocumulus decks were geoengineered, the model 
suggests precipitation reductions of 15percent over South America, 9percent 
over North America, and 5percent over Europe and Asia. Thus the use of 
geographically inhomogenous radiative forcing mechanisms to counterbalance 
global warming induces distinct geographic responses in temperature and 
precipitation that may be very detrimental to some areas of the Earth. 
DE: 1630 Impacts of global change (1225)
DE: 3305 Climate change and variability (1616, 1635, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting

[Comments.  I'm unsure how much of these stratocumulus decks would be required 
to have their reflectivity increased to offset a given level of GHG forcing.  
Thus, is modeling based on the maximum whitening of all such clouds relevant 
other than to gauge the sensitivity of the climate system?  If there is some 
precipitation reduction, then what is the threshold at which it becomes a 
problem?  I don't have to remind everyone that the media tends to take the 
results of worst case models and present them as the most likely outcome.  
Latham's response to the IUSC discusses some of the sensitivity issues: 
quadrupling of brightness, level required to offset a doubling of CO2 or 
1000ppm CO2, etc. as well as the impact on monsoonal flows and apparently El 
Ninos as well.

Another idea.  What would be the combined effects of cloud whitening and 
aerosol geoengineering?  Nissen mentioned this and it was also mentioned in 
Watson's DEFRA response, I think.  AG] 

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"geoengineering" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more options, visit this group at 
http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

Reply via email to