Dear Professor Wood, and others interested in geoengineering, I intend to send this letter to Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. I have made a few changes, since sending an earlier version of this letter to the geoengineering blog. I then added a list of people who have been willing to put their names to the letter, see the cc list. If I've left anybody out by mistake, my apologies.
If you, Professor Wood, or anybody else, wishes to add their names to the list, please let me know, if possible by noon GMT, today. I am also considering sending this to the President elect, via an adviser. Can you suggest who would be best to send this letter to? I know it is just before Christmas, but I want to get it off my chest! Would anybody supporting the letter to Gordon Brown object to having the same letter sent to Barack Obama? Would anybody not supporting the letter to Gordon Brown like to be listed on a letter to Barack Obama? Regards, John John Nissen, Chiswick, London W4 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger Angel" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 6:20 PM Subject: Re: [geo] Geoengineering is now our only hope > Hi John, > > I you want my name on a letter like this, I would be happy to see it > added. I am an FRS and a member of the NAS, and have published in the > area, so it could add some weight. I am now analyzing the cost and energy > cost of different schemes to loft containers of liquid SO2 into the > stratosphere by acceleration up a 100 m vertical tube. This could likely > be developed and implemented quite quickly. > > Keep up the good work! > > Cheers, > > Roger Angel > > > John Nissen wrote: >> DRAFT LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER >> I have redrafted this letter in the light of comments from Andrew >> Lockley. I have added the security dimension, because I believe it is >> only by regarding it as a question of war that we can grasp the true >> enormity of our predicament. Please consider whether you'd be willing to >> add your name to the signatories. >> Thanks, John >> (John Nissen, Chiswick, London) >> ----- >> >> To: The Prime Minister, the Right Hon Gordon Brown, MP >> >> >> Stabilising Climate and Sea Level >> >> >> We believe that there is a looming environmental crisis which has >> catastrophic implications for the security of the world. Indeed we >> believe that this crisis should be treated as urgently as an immediate >> threat of war, since global conflict would be an almost inevitable >> consequence of global warming out of control. >> >> >> This crisis arises from the threat of abrupt and irreversible global >> warming being triggered by events in the Arctic region, where warming has >> been at least twice as fast as the global average. This warming is being >> accelerated by the highly reflective sea ice melting in summer, giving >> way to open water which absorbs over 90% of sunlight. If allowed to >> continue unabated, the warming will have a number of dangerous >> consequences: >> >> * the almost complete disappearance of Arctic sea ice at the end >> of summer, which could happen by 2013 or sooner according to >> some experts; >> * severe damage to an entire ecosystem, with repercussions on >> marine food chains; >> * the release of vast amounts of the potent greenhouse gas, >> methane, trapped in frozen structures such as permafrost; >> * the destabilisation of the Greenland ice sheet and rapid sea >> level rise. >> >> >> Top climate scientists consider the Arctic sea ice disappearance as a >> tipping point for the whole climate system. Thus saving the Arctic sea >> ice is key to preventing disastrous global warming and sea level rise. >> >> >> This is a grim picture. *The retreat of Arctic sea ice is happening too >> fast for reductions in CO2 emissions to have any perceptible effect.* >> >> But we believe there may be a way out of this predicament using what is >> called “geoengineering” to cool the whole Arctic region. There are two >> particular technologies which have an excellent chance of saving the >> Arctic sea ice, if they are deployed before it disappears: >> >> * the creation of stratospheric clouds (or reflecting haze) using >> sulphate aerosols; >> * the brightening of marine clouds using very fine particles of salt. >> >> >> This is a now or never opportunity. Once the sea ice is gone, the chance >> of successful geoengineering is much reduced. >> >> >> Considering what is at stake, we would like to recommend a programme with >> has the urgency, decisiveness and focus of the Manhattan project. Its >> supreme challenge would be the deployment of geoengineering technologies >> on a scale sufficient to halt the trend of Arctic sea ice retreat in 2010 >> and to start reversing the trend in 2011. If successful on this scale, >> these same technologies could then be tested on a larger scale to halt >> global warming and stabilise both climate and sea level. >> >> >> These technologies are not to be considered a substitute for other >> actions to mitigate climate change. Indeed it may be necessary to >> prevent the level of CO2 in the atmosphere rising much above its current >> level to avoid undue ocean acidification. Geoengineering can provide >> some tools to attack global warming – but we need to use all the tools at >> our disposal to be sure to avoid disaster and preserve the environment >> for the benefit of future generations. >> >> >> Yours sincerely, >> >> >> >> John Nissen >> >> London W4 2PR >> >> Tel: 020 8742 3170 >> >> Email: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> >> >> [other signatories] >> >> >> >> >> > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
Letter to the PM v5.doc
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