Maybe the word is "anthroform" --.transforming the Earth to better meet human needs.
This could perhaps be contrasted with "naturaform" -- transforming the Earth to better meet the needs of existing natural systems. These both could be contrasted with our current policy: "myopeconoform" -- transforming the Earth as a consequence of efforts to maximize short-term economic objectives. On Sat, May 25, 2013 at 1:14 PM, RAU greg <[email protected]> wrote: > How about we "re-terraform" rather than "terraform" the planet, since it > was pretty well terraformed before we arrived on the scene? > Greg > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Fred Zimmerman <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected]; geoengineering <[email protected] > > > *Sent:* Sat, May 25, 2013 12:27:13 PM > *Subject:* Re: [geo] Opinion: Dreams we cannot afford, by Russ George — > The Daily Climate > > Carl Sagan used "planetary engineering" in 1973. > http://media.cigionline.org/geoeng/1973%20-%20Sagan%20-%20Planetary%20Engineering%20on%20Mars.pdf > > "terraforming" was in common use in science fiction from the 1960s to > describe the process of making uninhabitable worlds Terra-like or habitable > > > http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=geoengineering,planetary+engineering,terraforming&year_start=1800&year_end=1977&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share > > "Terraforming" may deserve some renewed attention as we are going to be > engaged in making the uninhabitable habitable ... > > > Thanks, Andrew. A couple of comments: >> As far as I know, Marchetti (1977), not David Keith, was the "father of >> the term 'geoengineering'" >> >> I thought Klaus Lackner, not David Keith, is known as the father of the >> "artificial tree". >> >> >> -Greg >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> >> *To:* geoengineering <[email protected]> >> *Sent:* Thu, May 23, 2013 11:12:52 PM >> *Subject:* [geo] Opinion: Dreams we cannot afford, by Russ George — The >> Daily Climate >> >> >> http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2013/05/opinion-ocean-geoengineering >> >> Dreams we cannot afford >> By Russ George >> The Daily Climate >> VANCOUVER, British Columbia – >> >> The billions of dollars required by geoengineers to scrub the atmosphere >> of carbon will bankrupt us. I have a cheaper solution. >> >> I met David Keith, often described as the father of geoengineering, a few >> years back in the backstage "green room" in New York City as we were >> preparing to go on stage for a TED event. TED talks charge high ticket >> prices for lavishly produced events on worldly topics that the >> intelligentsia and cognoscenti of technology and science like to attend. >> David, Martin Hoffert and I were speaking that night on a common theme: >> What to do about anthropogenic carbon dioxide.Geoengineers are presenting >> ideas that require hundreds of billions, even trillions, of dollars to >> solve the crisis of human-driven climate change.Marty, retired now from New >> York University, is a voluble advocate for getting off fossil fuels to >> avoid climate change impacts. David is a physics professor at Harvard >> University and is backed by Bill Gates. He's proud to be the father of the >> term "geoengineering," where we alter the climate to suit our needs instead >> of Nature's. Me? I am displeased to have the term hung around my neck. But >> I am an old hippy tree-planter who has spent life living outside of the >> box, with some bit of help from folks inside said box. I compromise and >> call myself an "ecoengineer."What transpired in the "green room" started >> out as a friendly exchange of views that became a heated discussion and >> rapidly devolved into an argument with sparks flying. My premise: The cost >> of dealing with anthropogenic CO2 must be and can be a tiny fraction of the >> cost demanded by those working in the field inside the box. >> >> David and other geoengineers are presenting ideas and inventions to the >> world that require hundreds of billions, even trillions, of dollars to >> solve the crisis of human-driven climate change. David's "artificial trees" >> – named after plants' abilities to pull carbon dioxide from the air – >> consist of vast arrays of fans blowing our carbon-rich air over a pool of >> sodium hydroxide. Other plans would have us send a fleet of planes or >> blimps aloft to seed the clouds with light-reflecting particles, much as a >> large volcanic explosion do. More farfetched are plans to lob trillions of >> mirrors into orbit to deflect the sun's energy.My work over the past two >> decades shows that we can solve a large part of the crisis for a small >> fraction of the cost. And because it's ecoengineering, we're restoring >> ecosystems at the same time we're solving climate change.Last summer, in >> the largest geoengineering project to date, I oversaw an ocean experiment >> that sowed 120 tons of iron sulphate and iron ore rock dust into the >> Pacific Ocean more than 200 miles west of British Columbia's Haida Gwaii >> islands. The premise was simple: Iron, acting as a fertilizer, would >> trigger a phytoplankton bloom that would pull carbon from the ocean. We'd >> simply be replenishing the sea with a natural mineral micronutrient. The >> whole ocean food chain would benefit, as well as the Haida, who have >> suffered from diminished salmon runs. >> >> Our carbon emissions are an immediate, cataclysmic problem for the oceans >> that make up more than 70 percent of our blue planet. We are delivering a >> lethal overdose of carbon dioxide to the ocean environment.This is the >> crisis of CO2, and we might as well forget about any long term problems >> associated with global warming – and the trillions of dollars needed by >> geoengineers like David Keith – if we do not first deal with ocean >> health.Some in the international community and in Canada claim that our >> project was unlawful are presently before the Supreme Court of British >> Columbia. A thorough review of law in Canada has yet to discover anything >> identifying the work as being unlawful. Other scientists have said this >> approach won't work – that other studies have found little ability for iron >> fertilization efforts to permanently sequester carbon on any scale relevant >> to counter human emissionsWe have found otherwise. Six years of preparation >> and months of sea studies aboard our research ships – along with two state >> of the art Slocum Ocean gliders and hourly data from buoys at the site – >> have produced nearly 200 million discrete measurements of the ocean >> environment and the bloom. The experiment is working.For mere pennies per >> ton of captured carbon dioxide, the native village I've been working with >> has replenished and restored its traditional ocean pasture. In doing so we >> captured tens of millions of ton of CO2 last year. The carbon has been >> converted into an even more valuable form: Life itself – plankton – that my >> friends on British Columbia's Haida Gwaii islands know best as fish food. >> Here's a link to a narrative on how well it worked. >> >> So five years have passed since that New York City TED evening, and David >> Keith's prototype artificial trees are being readied for a test. If the >> test works perhaps the world will pour more money into a larger test. If >> that works, he needs a price on carbon dioxide – $200 per ton – to scale up >> his effort to chemically engineer a solution out of the air.Saving the >> world one village at a time is practical and immediately possible. At a >> fraction of the cost of David's artificial trees, our native grown >> ecoengineering project is in fully operational condition, turning CO2 from >> its deadly form into life.And let's look at the economics: A $200 price tag >> on carbon emissions would have considerable ripple effects on the world >> economy. Take a flight from New York to Paris as one example. Each >> passenger disembarks with a two- to three-ton carbon footprint.Factoring in >> how fees and surcharges tend to multiply as they get passed to consumers, >> that sends the airfare soaring from about $1,150 today to about $2,350 with >> Keith's carbon offset price.Our village-based ocean plan, in contrast, adds >> less than $30 to the ticket price for the same amount of carbon >> sequestration. And you get delicious wild salmon with your inflight meal.We >> may still need David's artificial trees. I'm pretty sure we cannot afford >> them. >> >> Russ George (Twitter: @russgeorge2) is founder of the Vancouver based >> firm Haida Salmon Restoration Corp. which seeks to use ecoengineering >> projects to restore ecosystems, help salmon runs and slow climate change. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "geoengineering" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "geoengineering" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
