The group seems to spend a lot of time talking about either 1) SRM & CDR techniques or 2) fuzzy governance. I think it might be useful to post occasional reminders of the science that sets the context for the predicament we're in. Given that there are 850 members of the group, it is almost certain that these articles will be new to many of us.
This article by Vitousek is important because it underlines the (vast) degree to which we are already doing accidental geoengineering. It really is a fantasy to think of conserving a natural state of nonAnthropocene Earth that disappeared centuries ago. Vitousek, P. M., Mooney, H. A., Lubchenco, J., & Melillo, J. M. (1997). Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems. (J. M. Marzluff, E. Shulenberger, M. Alberti, G. Bradley, & C. Ryan, Eds.)Science, 277(5325), 494–499. doi:10.1126/science.277.5325.494 http://webspace.pugetsound.edu/facultypages/kburnett/readings/vitousek.pdf *Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing. Between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction. By these and other standards, it is clear that we live on a human-dominated planet. * --- Fred Zimmerman Geoengineering IT! Bringing together the worlds of geoengineering and information technology GE NewsFilter: http://geoengineeringIT.net:8080 -- 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.
