This is quite obvious Prof. Spy agencies and state criminals have long used unconventional arms to harm other people or countries, whether in time of war or peace.A a genuine scientist, your worries are also quite genuine. I am quite sure that some of your fellow researchers are receiving such funds to develop climate intervention technologies that will be used for other purposes than fixing the global warming issue. I therefore urge you to keep up raising awareness on these issues.
Regards, *Dr Cush Ngonzo Luwesi (PhD) Lecturer Department of Geography, Office G2B Kenyatta University Main Campus, Thika Road P.O. Box 43844 - 00100 Nairobi Tel +254 710 149 676* *Profile: (1) * *http://www.ku.ac.ke/schools/humanities/faculty/faculty-profiles/87-faculty/293-dr-cush-ngonzo-luwesi* <http://www.ku.ac.ke/schools/humanities/faculty/faculty-profiles/87-faculty/293-dr-cush-ngonzo-luwesi> * (2) **http://kenyatta.academia.edu/CushNgonzoLuwesi* <http://kenyatta.academia.edu/CushNgonzoLuwesi> * (3) **www.researchgate.net/profile/Cush_Ngonzo_Luwesi* * (4) * *http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eHKAx0cAAAAJ&hl=en* <http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eHKAx0cAAAAJ&hl=en> On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 9:44 PM, Alan Robock <[email protected]> wrote: > There has been a lot of publicity recently about my comments on the CIA > and geoengineering. Fortunately, *The Guardian* asked me to write an > op-ed to give me a chance to explain my views using my own words. > Unfortunately, they chose an inflammatory title, but please read the > content. > > > http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/17/cia-controlling-climate-geoengineering-climate-change > [includes links to some of the items in the text] > > > *The CIA asked me about controlling the climate - this is why we should > worry* [I did not write this title or subtitle.] > > *Geoengineering has many risks, and we don't yet know the CIA's > intentions. But given the lack of political will on climate change, we have > to look at it * > > Alan Robock > > Tuesday 17 February 2015 11.35 EST > > On January 19, 2011, I got a phone call from two men who told me they were > consultants for the CIA. Roger Lueken and Michael Canes, analysts for the > Logistics Management Institute, asked, among other things, "If another > country were trying to control our climate, would we be able to detect it?" > > I told them that I thought we could, because if a cloud in the > stratosphere were created (the most commonly proposed method of control) > that was thick enough, large enough, and long-lasting enough to change the > amount of energy reaching Earth, we could certainly see it with the same > ground-based and satellite instruments we use to measure stratospheric > clouds from volcanic eruptions. If, on the other hand, low clouds were > being brightened over the ocean (another suggested means of cooling the > climate), we could see telltale patterns in the tops of the clouds with > satellite photos. And it would also be easy to observe aeroplanes or ships > injecting gases or particles into the atmosphere. > Spy agencies fund climate research in hunt for weather weapon, scientist > fears > > At the same time, I wondered whether they also wanted to know if others > would know about it, if the CIA was controlling the world's climate. Given > that the CIA is a major sponsor of the recently released US National > Academy of Sciences (NAS) reports on geoengineering (which they have > renamed "climate intervention"), the question arises as to the possible > interest of the CIA in global climate control. > Advertisement > > Let me be clear. I completely agree with all the NAS findings. Global > warming is real and is being caused by humans, mainly by burning coal, oil, > petrol and natural gas, which puts carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas - into > the atmosphere. Global warming will result in major harm to humanity if > left unchecked. The solution is to stop using fossil fuels for our energy > supply and switch to solar and wind power, and to adapt to some of the > coming climate change. > > Geoengineering by blocking sunlight should not be implemented now, as its > risks and benefits are too uncertain, but we need more research on the > various proposed scenarios. Taking carbon dioxide out of the air is a good > thing, but currently extremely expensive, and we need research on that, too. > > The 2014 US Quadrennial Defense Review makes clear that climate change > poses a major threat to the US and the rest of the world. It says: "The > pressures caused by climate change will influence resource competition > while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance > institutions around the world. These effects are threat multipliers that > will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, > political instability, and social tensions - conditions that can enable > terrorist activity and other forms of violence." > > Certainly it is the job of the US military and the CIA to help protect our > country from such threats, and it is not surprising that the CIA is > interested to learn about geoengineering. In fact, the CIA opened a Center > on Climate Change and National Security in 2009. When it was forced by > Congress to close it in 2012, it said they would continue working on these > issues anyway. > Can the CIA weaponise the weather? > > Whether you see the role of the CIA in climate change as nefarious or > protective depends on how you weigh evidence with your preconceived > notions. There is a long history of weather and climate control being > proposed for military purposes, as described brilliantly in the 2010 book > by James Fleming, Fixing the Sky, but there is no evidence the CIA is doing > anything wrong on this issue. I know of no way to control local or regional > climate with geoengineering without effects elsewhere, but while it is > possible that such techniques could be developed by research, > geoengineering for hostile purposes is prohibited by the United Nations > Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of > Environmental Modification Techniques. > > I don't want to be working on geoengineering. But I don't yet see the > political will in the world to address global warming. If the US enhances > its research efforts on geoengineering, we will learn about both the > potential risks and benefits of its implementation, so that future > policymakers will be able to make informed decisions, and not hasty ones in > a panic if confronted by environmental dangers. > > My recent work lists five potential benefits and 26 potential risks of > stratospheric geoengineering, and the number one benefit - if stratospheric > geoengineering is possible at all (an important research question) - is > that it could cool the planet, reversing some of the dangers of global > warming. But will we ever be able to overcome the governance and ethical > issues? > > Thus further research is urgently needed. In the meantime, we need to > vigorously move to a carbon-free energy system. > > -- > Alan > > 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 USA http://envsci.rutgers.edu/~robock > http://twitter.com/AlanRobock > Watch my 18 min TEDx talk at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrEk1oZ-54 > > -- > 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/d/optout. > -- 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/d/optout.
