I knoiw how you feel. There's a real possibility that we are headed for disaster in the next ten years. Maybe less. And relief will come too late to stop most of the worst of the painful effects.
On Dec 7, 6:11 pm, John Nissen <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't think the politicians are being told about the "elephant in the > room", which is the Arctic sea ice. I wrote this letter to the Guardian > (but not published): > > --- > > The elephant in the room > > “We are still in charge of our own destiny” is the hopeful message from > Fred Pearce (“Why Copenhagen Matters”, in the 10-page special, 30^th > November). Pearce describes how civilisation has become critically > dependent on stable climates and constant sea level, which the Earth’s > climate system has provided for the past 8000 years or more. The whole > system is liable to violent disruption because of the colossal amount of > CO2 that has been put in the atmosphere. Leaders from many nations are > gathered in Copenhagen to agree actions to curb emissions and stop the > amount of CO2 from growing, but (and this point is missed by most > commentators) these actions will not halt the global warming arising > from the existing CO2. Although our destiny in the long term depends on > emissions reduction, it critically depends in the short term on avoiding > certain effects from the existing CO2 – in particular two tipping > points: the release of methane in permafrost, which has the potential to > cause runaway warming, and the disintegration of the Greenland ice > sheet, which has the potential to produce 7 metres of sea level rise. > The dramatic retreat of Arctic sea ice (with an incredible 40% reduction > for the past three years) could trigger these tipping points, through > regional warming, as reflective ice gives way to sunshine-absorbing open > water. Our leaders seem blissfully unaware of this hazard, because > their advisers have chosen to ignore this “elephant in the room” – > effectively a weapon of mass destruction! Probably the only way to > save the Arctic sea ice, in the short time available, is through the > emerging discipline of geoengineering, for example using stratospheric > haze for regional cooling and marine cloud brightening for cooling the > waters entering the Arctic Ocean. A team of top scientists, engineers > and economists needs to be set up to work out exactly what to do, and > how quickly and safely it can be done. And our leaders need to see that > it gets done at top priority. Otherwise we may lose control of our > destiny and Pearce’s worst nightmares could become reality. > > --- > > Cheers, > > John > > --- > > charles goodnight wrote: > > i have been reading some of the comments coming out of copenhagen: more > research is needed, step in the right direction, hopefully this will > provide us with the basis for future agreements etc. etc..sounds like > the same old cheesy remarks whenever a difficult decision is confronting > humanity, up there with peace in our time and light at the end of the > tunnel. in other words, just BULLSHIT in the face of catastrophe.. what > the hell, maybe our time has run out after all. -- 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.
