So, Alvia, are you needling Ken? Or are you genuinely asking whether or not scientists should be advocates?
On Apr 10, 1:57 pm, "Alvia Gaskill" <[email protected]> wrote: > Recently seen on wall at UC Berkeley: IN CASE OF FIRE, DO NOT CALL INEZ > FUNG*. And the interview with Caldeira once again demonstrates why he is > such an effective advocate for geoengineering research. Or maybe he isn't. > Or maybe he shouldn't try to be. Or maybe it doesn't matter if he is or > not. Or if something really bad happens, someone else can be an effective > spokesman for geoengineering research or maybe not. I'm not sure. What do > you think Ken? > > *Also, in case of Type II Diabetes, don't ask Inez Fung for advice on drug > therapies, cause it's just treatin' the symptoms and you won't last long > enough for the cure anyway. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "dasilva" <[email protected]> > To: "geoengineering" <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 3:20 PM > Subject: [geo] geoeng. article in the Virginia Quarterly Review > > See "The Ass's Dilemma" > > http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2009/spring/joseph-climate-engineer... > > Here's an exerpt: > > “I’m not a fan,” Inez Fung said flatly when I asked her opinion of > stratospheric aerosol injection. A petite woman in a pageboy haircut, > Fung is a prominent figure in climatology—professor of atmospheric > science at the University of California, Berkeley, co-director of the > Berkeley Institute of the Environment, and, like Caldeira, a > contributor to the IPCC, which, in 2008, shared the Nobel Peace Prize > with Al Gore. I met her in her office last April in Berkeley’s McCone > Hall. She sat in her office chair, arms folded tightly across her > chest, one foot bobbing impatiently under the desk. > > “You don’t think it could serve as an insurance policy in the event of > abrupt climate change?” I asked. > > “Heavens, no. What abrupt climate changes are you worried about?” > > “Well, what if the Greenland ice sheet starts to go far faster than > anticipated? Would it make sense then to decrease temperatures in the > hopes of stopping that process, since we’re talking about something > like a twenty-foot rise in sea level? Would the ramifications be so > serious that we could justify . . . ?” > > “I think a much more important thing is to say sea level will rise,” > she answered. “Preventing it is just delaying it. I mean all this > geoengineering is just delaying . . . It’s gonna go sooner or later.” > > “But wouldn’t it at least buy us time?” > > “What are we doing in the interim if the whole strategy is to buy > time? If we just continue to squander energy, I wouldn’t support it.” > > Her foot bounced under her desk. > > “Geoengineering is not science fiction, okay?” she continued. “How do > we test it? How do we know that it would work? The scientist’s > responsibility is not just to propose wild ideas. The scientist’s > responsibility is to say, ‘How do we test them?’” > > Her frustration seemed to grow as our interview progressed, and when I > finally gathered my things to leave, I thanked her for putting up with > my questions. She said, “No, no, it’s important not to just look at > what is the last resort and ignore responsible action. It’s very > American to want a quick fix, but the energy problem is the principal > challenge for humankind—the two energy problems: not just the > squandering of energy, but also the imbalance in energy access in the > world.” > > “Sure,” I answered, “but recognizing that doesn’t do anything to solve > the problem of climate change.” > > She took a deep breath before answering wearily. “There is no solving > the problem. There is no solving the problem. All it is is slowing the > symptoms.” --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
