The Russians launched the first satellite, and that did wonders for the US space program. Could there be a parallel here for GE? An arms race to save the planet...one can dream. Greg
>________________________________ > From: Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> >To: geoengineering <[email protected]> >Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 11:23 AM >Subject: [geo] Russia urges UN climate report to include geoengineering > > > >Russia urges UN climate report to include geoengineering The Russian >government is asking for 'planet hacking' to be included in the climate >science report, leaked documents show >Martin Lukacs >Suzanne Goldenberg >Adam Vaughan >Thu 19 September 2013 >Russia is pushing for next week's landmark UN climate science report to >include support for controversial technologies to geoengineer the planet's >climate, according to documents obtained by the Guardian. >As climate scientists prepare to gather for the Intergovernmental Panel on >Climate Change (IPCC) in Stockholm to present the most authoritative state of >climate science to date, it has emerged the Russian government is asking for >"planet hacking" to be included in the report. The IPCC has not included >geoengineering in its major assessments before. >The documents seen by the Guardian show Russia is asking for a conclusion of >the report to say that a "possible solution of this [climate change] problem >can be found in using of [sic] geoengineering methods to stabilise current >climate." Russia also highlighted that its scientists are developing >geoengineering technologies. >Geoengineering aims to cool the Earth by methods including spraying sulphate >aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight, or fertilising the oceans >with iron to create carbon-capturing algal blooms. >Such ideas are increasingly being discussed by western scientists and >governments as a plan B for addressing climate change, with the new astronomer >royal, Professor Sir Martin Rees, calling last week for such methods to buy >time to develop sources of clean energy. But the techniques have been >criticised as a way for powerful, industrialised nations to dodge their >commitments to reduce carbon emissions. >Some modelling has shown geoengineering could be effective at reducing the >Earth's temperature, but manipulation of sensitive planetary systems in one >area of the world could also result in drastic unintended consequences >globally, such as radically disrupted rainfall. >Responding to efforts to discredit the climate science with a spoiler campaign >in advance of the report, the chairman of the IPCC, Rajendra K Pachauri, said >he was confident the high standards of the science in the report would make >the case for climate action. He said: "There will be enough information >provided so that rational people across the globe will see that action is >needed on climate change." >The Russian scientist Yuri Izrael, who has participated in IPCC geoengineering >expert groups and was an adviser to the former Russian president Vladimir >Putin, conducted an experiment in 2009 that sprayed particles from a >helicopter to assess how much sunlight was blocked by the aerosol plume. A >planned test in Britain that would have used a balloon attached to a 1km hose >to develop equipment for spraying was prevented after a public outcry. >Observers have suggested that Russia's admission that it is developing >geoengineering may put it in violation of the UN moratorium on geoengineering >projects established at the Biodiversity Convention in 2010 and should be >discussed on an emergency basis when the convention's scientific subcommittee >meets in Montreal in October. >Civil society organisations have previously raised concerns that expert groups >writing geoengineering sections of the IPCC report were dominated by US, UK >and Canadian geoengineering advocates who have called for public funding of >large-scale experiments or who have taken out commercial patents on >geoenginering technologies. One scientist who served as a group co-chair, >David Keith of Harvard University, runs a private geoengineering company, has >planned tests in New Mexico, and is publicising a new book called The Case for >Climate Engineering. >Nearly 160 civil society, indigenous and environmental organisations signed a >letter in 2011 urging caution and calling on the IPCC not to legitimise >geoengineering. >Silvia Ribeiro, Latin America director of the technology watchdog ETC Group, >said: "We have been warning that a few geoengineering advocates have been >trying to hijack the IPCC for their agenda. We are now seeing a deliberate >attempt to exploit the high profile and credibility of this body in order to >create more mainstream support for extreme climate engineering. The public and >policymakers need to be on guard against being steamrollered into accepting >dangerous and immoral interventions with our planet, which are a false >solution to climate change. Geoengineering should be banned by the UN general >assembly." >Matthew Watson, a senior lecturer at the University of Bristol's Earth >sciences department and one of the team behind the cancelled balloon project, >said: "In general ought the IPCC to be thinking about geoengineering? Yes. But >do I want to see unilateralism or regionalism affect the debate? Certainly >not. The people who don't like geoengineering will suggest the IPCC is a >method for normalising it." >He added: "The IPCC has to be very careful about how it handles this >[geoengineering] because it is clearly a very significant output that people >are very mindful of." >While the IPCC is intended to be a scientific advisory panel, government >delegates have been reviewing the summary report and make final decisions >about it in Stockholm at the end of the month. >Sweden, Norway and Germany expressed more scepticism about geoengineering and >asked that the report underline its potential dangers. >"The information on geoengineering options is too optimistic as it does not >appropriately reflect the current lack of knowledge or the high risks >associated with such methods," noted the German government. >Geoengineering is expected to play a much larger role in the next IPCC reports >coming out in 2014. Observers were surprised that it had turned up in this >first major report – meant to assess physical science rather than mitigation >strategies. >Russia's climate negotiators did not respond to a request for comment. >© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights >reserved. -- >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. >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]. 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