The clear message is that: 1) Even if we stopped emission completely tomorrow, we'd probably still be in deep trouble. It is abundantly clear that we face not one, but several potential major tipping points, as identified by Lenton et al. 2) Without urgent and significant funding for geoengineering research, the technologies will be unlikely to be ready for swift and safe deployment when needed. 3) The later we can deploy any necessary geoengineering, the less likelihood there is that these technologies will work effectively.
A 2009/9/16 John Nissen <[email protected]>: > > > Albert is seeing ex-president Clinton next week. This is an unusual > opportunity to a get a message across to somebody with real influence. > Is there a single message that could catalyse action? > > Seeing the bad news in the Guardian [1], about which Stephen sighed, one > should not be "rocking the boat", yet I feel that the people advising > Obama must warn him that emissions reductions, however severe, are no > guarantee of safety. Any level of emissions reductions which appear > politically acceptable, like 80% reduction by 2050, has little chance of > preventing tipping points like Arctic sea ice summer disappearance. > > Perhaps Clinton should be told that we actually face a climate > emergency, but IPCC have dug themselves collectively into a hole over > emissions reductions. Scientific advisers (like John Holdren) should be > asked a straight question: would emissions reductions by themselves > guarantee to prevent the kind of climate catastrophe that could follow > from loss of Arctic sea ice (methane discharge, sea level rise) - and if > not, is there any alternative to geoengineering for significantly > reducing the risk? The answer does not have to be made public, but that > is another issue. > > Cheers, > > John > > > [1] > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/15/europe-us-copenhagen > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
