Some comments on IPCC Expert Meeting on Geoengineering, Lima, Peru, 20-22 June 2011
Meeting Report Edited by: Ottmar Edenhofer, Ramon Pichs-Madruga, Youba Sokona, Christopher Field, Vicente Barros, Thomas Stocker, Qin Dahe, Jan Minx, Katharine Mach, Gian-Kasper Plattner, Steffen Schlömer, Gerrit Hansen, Michael Mastrandrea, Dear Colleagues, Here are some wrong or ill-advised statements in the draft report, arrived at, in part, by choosing to ignore history. Please take them as constructive criticism and note my continuing interest in remaining involved in these discussions. Jim Fleming *"The concept of geoengineering can be traced back to the 1960s." (p. 2) -- *It is in fact an ancient concept, rooted in classical myth and hubris, and discussed throughout history, including the 1830s when building an "artificial volcano" was being discussed. Geoengineering was widely discussed after 1945 and practiced *in fact* (not a concept) in 1958 and 1962 in projects Argus and Starfish Prime using nuclear weapons to intervene in Earth's magnetosphere. The USSR made similar efforts. Note that this was high atmospheric and near space geoengineering. References. J.R. Fleming, *Fixing the Sky: The checkered history of weather and climate control.* Columbia University Press, 2010. J.R. Fleming, “Iowa Enters the Space Age: James Van Allen, Earth’s Radiation Belts, and Experiments to Disrupt Them.” *Annals of Iowa* 70 (Fall 2011), 301-24; available in America: History & Life with Full Text. *"There are basically three ways to change the climate." (p. 19)* -- Yet according to climatologist C. E. P. Brooks writing in 1950, "There are at least nine and sixty ways of constructing a theory of climatic change, and there is probably some truth in quite a number of them." Reference: J.R. Fleming, *Historical Perspectives on Climate Change.* Oxford University Press, 1998. *"Are there some aspects of SRM that require expertise that is missing from the author teams of Working Group I, II and III? Are there other things the author teams can do to improve their ability to develop a high quality assessment? The BOG felt that there is no obvious missing expertise amongst the lead authors. For specific questions that may need further consideration, it is advisable to involve others as contributing authors." (p. 93)* -- Obviously, there was no sense of history in the report, and seemingly a rather perfunctory discussion of ethics. -- James Fleming STS Program Colby College 5881 Mayflower Hill Waterville, ME 04901 Ph: 207-859-5881 Fax: 207-859-5846 Web: http://www.colby.edu/profile/jfleming <http://web.colby.edu/jfleming> -- 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.
