Poster's note : this is a short clip from a much longer article discussing the book, and issues arising from it.
http://geoengineeringclimateissues.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/earth-masters-excerpt-of-clive.html?m=1 We find ourselves in an exquisite dilemma. Sulphate pollution from burning coal and oil has a cooling effect on the planet yet the thick brown haze covering much of Asia and other conurbations is estimated by the World Health Organization to kill 1.3 million people each year. The sulphates in this lower-atmosphere pollution have been so effective at offsetting global warming that without it, on top of the measured O.8°C warming since pre-industrial times, the Earth would be an extra 1.1°C warmer.“ As the governments of China, India and other industrializing countries follow the example of Western nations and introduce air pollution laws to improve public health, the latent warming will become manifest. The lifetime of sulphate aerosols in the lower atmosphere is one or two weeks while the molecule it is meant to counter, carbon dioxide, stays up there for many centuries. So if we were to stop burning fossil fuels tomorrow, and eliminate carbon dioxide emissions, the planet would immediately become warmer, and remain so for some decades. It would be the equivalent of the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leaping from 390 ppm to 490 ppm within a few weeks. It is a frightening fact. If world leaders were persuade to agree to a programme of rapid reductions in carbon emissions, we might need somehow to maintain levels of sulphur pollution in order to avoid a warming so rapid that many ecosystems could not survive. The only answer seems to be to maintain this level of pollution for many decades until enough carbon dioxide can be shifted out of the atmosphere by natural or artificial means.” -- 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.
