Hi all, I've just added comment to the "live blogging" here.
http://omniclimate.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/live-blogging-from-rgs-geoengineering-debate-in-london/#comment-2114 I was at the geoengineering event, and you missed a central point of difference between the speakers. David Keith started with a startling presentation on just how much carbon dioxide we have put in the atmosphere, and how much we continue to put in, compared to natural sources of CO2. The excess of CO2 that exists now will persist for thousands of years, continuing the global warming. Therefore simply cutting emissions will not prevent dangerous climate change. We have to resort to geoengineering of one kind or another. On the other hand, Paul Johnston suggested that geoengineering was a distraction from the "real solutions", to cut our emissions. He was in effect saying that geoengineering was not needed and was not part of any realistic solution to the problem of global warming and climate change. Who is correct? Johnston gives the generally accepted view from among environmentalists and politicians, but Keith is correct in his science. Global warming will continue unless we apply geoengineering. Keith differentiated two types of geoengineering. One kind, he called "carbon cycle engineering", is needed to remove CO2 from atmosphere, the other, "solar radiation management" (SRM) may be needed to halt global warming while we deal with the CO2. In the question and answer session, I pointed out that SRM specifically in the Arctic would be needed for halting regional warming to prevent methane discharge and Greenland ice sheet disintegration. Johnston said that the pros and cons of such SRM needed to be considered. Cheers, John --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
