Dear Colleagues,
We welcome contributions to the following session. The deadline for
submission of contributed talks is March 2. To submit an abstract, go
to:
http://www.commonfuture-paris2015.org/How-to-Contribute/Contributions.htm
Title: *Climate Intervention: Evaluating its Risks, Benefits, and Potential*
*Co-Convenors: *Alan Robock, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ, USA;
David Winickoff, University of California, Berkeley CA, USA (on leave at
OECD, Paris, France beginning spring 2015); Michael C. MacCracken,
Climate Institute, Washington DC, USA
*Session Description: *Sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions must
be the primary approach to limiting climate change. Accomplishing this
will take decades, however. Despite efforts to adjust, adapt, and
enhance resilience, impacts will build over time, especially for those
most geographically, economically, and politically vulnerable. For these
reasons, approaches directed at offsetting and even reversing the
effects and impacts of higher greenhouse gas concentrations,
collectively known as geoengineering or climate intervention (CI), are
being studied. Proceeding with approaches that accelerate removal of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere can play a vital long-term role in
limiting warming while also promoting ecosystem services and
biodiversity and moderating ocean acidification. Approaches for reducing
global warming by altering the Earth's radiation budget have the
potential for a more immediate climatic influence, but are less well
developed and raise complex questions of science, governance and ethics.
To explore whether approaches such as injection of stratospheric
aerosols, marine cloud brightening, and cirrus cloud thinning may,
through research and evaluation, become plausible policy options, this
session invites presentations on the comparative climatic, agricultural,
ecological, societal, and other risks and on the governance implications
under future emissions scenarios, both with and without CI. Critical
questions include:
*Technical Considerations:* What scientific, engineering, ecological and
social science research is needed to establish the benefits and risks of
CI for: (a) offsetting gradual greenhouse-gas-induced changes on a
global, regional or specific impact-focused basis, and/or (b) preventing
the rapid onset of adverse impacts in the event a climate threshold is
identified and crossed? What resources and research effort would be
needed to reduce uncertainties sufficiently to provide policymakers with
an assessment of future risks and benefits of a changing climate with
and without CI?
*Societal and Governance Considerations:* What are the near-term policy
implications of the increasing scientific and political interest in CI?
How might any near-term risks of outdoor CI research be considered in
the context of potential long-term benefits of the knowledge gained and
how might such research be governed? Were CI capabilities to be
theoretically demonstrated, what are the governance implications,
requirements, pathways, and timelines for moving from concept to
plausible policy consideration and application? What are the ethical,
cultural, societal and governance implications for the natural
environment, nations and their citizens, and future generations were CI
to become a viable policy option? How do these implications compare to
policy options that do not include CI?
--
Alan Robock
Alan Robock, Distinguished Professor
Editor, Reviews of Geophysics
Director, Meteorology Undergraduate Program
Department of Environmental Sciences Phone: +1-848-932-5751
Rutgers University Fax: +1-732-932-8644
14 College Farm Road E-mail:[email protected]
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551 USAhttp://envsci.rutgers.edu/~robock
http://twitter.com/AlanRobock
Watch my 18 min TEDx talk athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrEk1oZ-54
--
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