Hi All
Olson writes:
"Rather than try and take preventative measures, such as expanding green
energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, climate geoengineering
aims to directly reverse the effects of global warming."
Why not 'as well as' rather than 'rather than'? I have been working on
green energy for nearly 40 years.
Stephen
On 08/02/2014 10:31, Andrew Lockley wrote:
http://www.lawrentian.com/archives/1002557
Olson gives Spoerl Lecture on geoengineering, climate change solutions
POSTED ON FEBRUARY 7, 2014 BY DANNY DAVIS
Last week, the environmental science department held a lecture by
guest speaker Robert L. Olson from the Alternative Futures Institute.
The lecture was part of the Spoerl Lectureship in Science and Society
and discussed the problems of climate change and the implications of
the solutions presented. The lecture was held on Thursday, Jan. 30 at
7 p.m. in Steitz Hall.The first half of the lecture discussed an
emerging technology called climate geoengineering. Climate
geoengineering is a category of technologies that could aggressively
alter the course of global warming, technology that is both feasible
and currently in development. These technologies serve as a 'quick
fix' to climate change. Rather than try and take preventative
measures, such as expanding green energy and reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, climate geoengineering aims to directly reverse the effects
of global warming.The associated technologies fall under two
categories: Those that aim to reduce sunlight to prevent warming and
those that remove carbon from the atmosphere to mitigate greenhouse
effects. The technologies that Olson presented varied in potential
effectiveness. The weakest, but also least potentially harmful
technology was aggressive reforestation. By planting trees in massive
numbers, the aim is to increase the amount of plants that scrub carbon
from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen.Another possible
technology involves injecting iron into the oceans, which would cause
large algae blooms which would absorb carbon. As the phytoplankton
die, the carbon it absorbs would become part of the seafloor rather
than reenter the atmosphere. However, this would come with the
ramifications of algae blooms, which may cause harm to the atmosphere.
Another strategy would be to plant lighter-colored crops and paint
cities white to absorb less heat.The most powerful geoengineering
technology that was speculated, however, was the use of stratospheric
sulphate aerosols. Stratospheric sulphate aerosols are chemicals that
would be sprayed into the atmosphere by aircraft. The concept of this
technology would be to create a global dimming effect. In the lecture,
Olson cited a large volcanic eruption that released so many sulfates
into the air that it created a cooling effect. Even a one percent
reduction in sunlight, as Olson discussed, could potentially mitigate
the effects of global warming. However, the ramifications of injecting
sulfates are unknown and could potentially be extremely dangerous.
Olson argued that the best and safest way to mitigate the effects of
global warming would be to cut greenhouse gas emissions and simply
prepare for what he strongly alluded to be the inevitable effects of
global warming. Olson cited alarming studies which showed the
environmental impacts of small raises in average global temperatures.
One study he cited suggested that if global temperatures rise enough,
the amount of land area affected by severe drought could increase from
fifteen percent to forty-four percent by the year 2100.Olson discussed
issues with why preventative technologies have not been mobilized,
despite the alarming evidence that was presented. Olson took a
directly partisan stance and argued that the political right has
catered to the interests of the energy industry and climate change
deniers. As Olson argued, politics have been a major obstacle in
enacting environmental policies. Part of what makes geoengineering so
controversial is that the political right has recently shown support
of geoengineering, even if the ramifications aren't fully known yet,
he said.Junior Conor Sexton, an environmental studies major, discussed
the political situation around geoengineering. "In the current
political arena, it's a very viable option that's going to become
lucrative as time goes on. There are lot of unknowns, but that's the
path we're headed down if we're unwilling to take long term steps to
prevent climate change," he said.Though, politically, climate change
has not gained much traction, Olson pointed out that even some
conservative think-tanks are beginning to favor environmental policies
that would not harm businesses. One such policy is carbon taxing, in
which taxes from other areas in the economy are shifted onto a
company's carbon emissions to incentivize them to take environmentally
friendly steps. Additionally, Olson said he was optimistic that
something can be done about climate change. "It's really important for
us to have a dialogue between people who are concerned about climate
change and people who are skeptical."
--
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.
--
Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design School of Engineering
University of Edinburgh Mayfield Road Edinburgh EH9 3JL Scotland
[email protected] Tel +44 (0)131 650 5704 Cell 07795 203 195
WWW.see.ed.ac.uk/~shs
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
--
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.
