Re: [geo] why SRM is necessary

[Claudia Wieners]

Dear Phil,

I wouldn't phrase it as drastically. If
-- emission reductions are implemented "with gusto"
-- CDR works fairly well
-- climate sensitivity is not on the higher end of current estimates
the 1.5 degrees goal is still within reach (see the most ambitious
scenarios of the recent IPCC AR6 WG1, e.g. SRM fig 4). If furthermore
-- tipping points and other nastiness is indeed limited below 1.5 degrees
there is some hope that even without SRM earth remains liveable, though we
would still have serious problems with e.g. sea level rise.

The question is, do we dare to bet on all these conditions? If not, then we
should seriously consider SRM but meanwhile keep reducing emissions as much
as we can.
It is a bit frightening that the only scenario in IPCC AR6 WG1 SPM fig 4
that has a* chance* to stay below 1.5deg (depends on climate sensitivity)
assumes we will have massive net negative emissions from ca 2055, while we
still don't know whether such negative emissions are feasible at the
required scale: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05938-3.

Best
Claudia

ps: I've tried to word these thoughts in a simple way here:
https://www.uu.nl/en/news/chemotherapy-for-the-climate-the-need-for-risk-risk-balancing-in-assessing-solar-geoengineering



Op vr 6 mei 2022 om 16:55 schreef Phil M :

> Hi, I've heard that SRM is necessary because neither emissions reductions
> nor GHG removal strategies, even if enacted globally with gusto, can
> possibly impact rising temperatures before we won't have an ecosystem left
> that can support human life, or most other life for that matter. So it's
> really about not having enough time left to NOT turn to SRM, which also
> voids the moral hazard argument as well. But I haven't been able to find
> any hard research confirming this. Has anyone found such research?
>
> --
> 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 geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/be5b2788-05b7-43cd-bf48-42266cbfcfa9n%40googlegroups.com
> 
> .
>

-- 
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 geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAJUUK5fuzXLp-foY0C31DBYqoG9YhuVSHwErGYhsuXhhVbdu3w%40mail.gmail.com.

Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

[Jim Fleming]

Paradise Lost

Biblical themes permeate the Western canon, and some of them speak either

directly or indirectly to the human role in weather and climate control. In
Paradise

Lost (1667), John Milton alludes to a divinely instituted shift in the
Earth’s

axis (and thus its climate) as a consequence of the original ancestors’
lapse from

grace. According to Milton, while Eden was the ultimate temperate clime,

watered with gentle mists, God, in anger and for punishment, rearranged the

Earth and its surroundings to generate excessive heat, cold, and storms:
“the Creator,

calling forth by name His mightie Angels, gave them several charge.”3 The

Sun was to move and shine so as to affect the Earth “with cold and heat
scarce

tolerable” (10.653–654); the planets were to align in sextile, square,
opposition,

and trine “thir influence malignant . . . to showre” (10.662); the winds
were to

blow from the four corners to “confound Sea, Aire, and Shoar” (10.665–666);

and the thunder was to roll “with terror through the dark Aereal Hall”
(10.667).

The biggest change, however, resulted from tipping the axis of the Earth:
“Some

say he bid his Angels turne ascanse the Poles of Earth twice ten degrees and

more from the Sun’s Axle; they with labor push’d oblique the Centric Globe
. . .

to bring in change of Seasons to each Clime; else had the Spring perpetual

smil’d on Earth with vernant Flours, equal in Days and Nights” (10.668–671,

677–680).


This led to massive changes in weather and climate on sea and land:
“sidereal

blast, Vapour, and Mist, and Exhalation hot, Corrupt and Pestilent” (10.693–

695). Northern winds (Boreas, Kaikias, and Skeiron) burst “their brazen
Dungeon,

armd with ice and snow and haile, and stormie gust and flaw” (10.697–

698), and other winds (Notus, Eurus, and the Tempest-Winds) in their season

rent the woods, destroyed crops, churned the seas, and rushed forth noisily
with

black thunderous clouds, serving the bidding of the storm god Aeolus. But
the

angels had one last task: evicting “our lingring Parents” (12.638) from
Eden. In

this, too, Milton evokes climatic change when the blazing sword of God,
“fierce

as a Comet; which with torrid heat, and vapour as the Libyan Air adust,
began to

parch that temperate Clime” (12.634–636). Looking back at Paradise, “som
natural

tears they drop’d, but wip’d them soon; the World was all before them, where

to choose thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide: They, hand in
hand, with

wandring steps and slow, through Eden took their solitarie way”
(12.645–649).

So you see, the wages of sin are . . . climate change.

On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 12:57 PM SALTER Stephen  wrote:

> Jim
>
> Tilting the earth’s axis back to the angle it should have been if properly
> constructed would save a great deal of energy for heating and
> air-conditioning but anything proposed by a gun club sounds rather energy
> intensive.  A better way would be to set up a standing wave pattern called
> a seich in a sea region running north and south with a period of 24 hours.
> The Adriatic looks promising.  We would need a reflecting wall at one end
> and a line of energy-absorbing and recycling wave-makers at the other.
> With deep water and no wave breaking the system is quite efficient.  It
> would take quite a while but this would give time for people to decide on
> the best angle. Once you get it going it takes little extra energy to
> overcome losses.
>
> Stephen
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* geoengineering@googlegroups.com  *On
> Behalf Of *Jim Fleming
> *Sent:* Friday, May 6, 2022 5:07 PM
> *To:* Alan Robock 
> *Cc:* olivier boucher ; geoengineering <
> Geoengineering@googlegroups.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer
>
>
>
> *This email was sent to you by someone outside the University.*
>
> You should only click on links or attachments if you are certain that the
> email is genuine and the content is safe.
>
> Thanks for the kind acknowledgment Alan.
>
> I told Oliver Boucher there are more geo-engineering science fiction
> vignettes he could use from my 2010 book, Fixing the Sky. One example is
> Jules Verne, Sans Dessus Dessous, published in 1889 and appearing
> simultaneously in English as The Purchase of the North Pole. The
> Baltimore Gun Club attempts to change the Earth's tilt, for profit.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jim
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 11:45 AM Alan Robock ☮ 
> wrote:
>
> Dear Olivier,
>
> First I want to apologize to Jim Fleming.  He pointed out to me that he
> discusses the same passages of *American Claimant* is his wonderful 2010
> book *Fixing the Sky *(which all of you must have read already, and if
> not, you need to read) on pp. 27-30.  So although I had forgotten that I
> read it (I'm old), it must have still been stuck in my brain somewhere.
> Nevertheless, I did really rediscover it by reading the book, and it is
> still worth reminding us all of it.
>
> Second, the part about geoengineering is in the 

Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

[Jim Fleming]

John Milton wrote that God instructed the angels tip the earth's axis after
the fall to punish humankind...

On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 12:57 PM SALTER Stephen  wrote:

> Jim
>
> Tilting the earth’s axis back to the angle it should have been if properly
> constructed would save a great deal of energy for heating and
> air-conditioning but anything proposed by a gun club sounds rather energy
> intensive.  A better way would be to set up a standing wave pattern called
> a seich in a sea region running north and south with a period of 24 hours.
> The Adriatic looks promising.  We would need a reflecting wall at one end
> and a line of energy-absorbing and recycling wave-makers at the other.
> With deep water and no wave breaking the system is quite efficient.  It
> would take quite a while but this would give time for people to decide on
> the best angle. Once you get it going it takes little extra energy to
> overcome losses.
>
> Stephen
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* geoengineering@googlegroups.com  *On
> Behalf Of *Jim Fleming
> *Sent:* Friday, May 6, 2022 5:07 PM
> *To:* Alan Robock 
> *Cc:* olivier boucher ; geoengineering <
> Geoengineering@googlegroups.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer
>
>
>
> *This email was sent to you by someone outside the University.*
>
> You should only click on links or attachments if you are certain that the
> email is genuine and the content is safe.
>
> Thanks for the kind acknowledgment Alan.
>
> I told Oliver Boucher there are more geo-engineering science fiction
> vignettes he could use from my 2010 book, Fixing the Sky. One example is
> Jules Verne, Sans Dessus Dessous, published in 1889 and appearing
> simultaneously in English as The Purchase of the North Pole. The
> Baltimore Gun Club attempts to change the Earth's tilt, for profit.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jim
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 11:45 AM Alan Robock ☮ 
> wrote:
>
> Dear Olivier,
>
> First I want to apologize to Jim Fleming.  He pointed out to me that he
> discusses the same passages of *American Claimant* is his wonderful 2010
> book *Fixing the Sky *(which all of you must have read already, and if
> not, you need to read) on pp. 27-30.  So although I had forgotten that I
> read it (I'm old), it must have still been stuck in my brain somewhere.
> Nevertheless, I did really rediscover it by reading the book, and it is
> still worth reminding us all of it.
>
> Second, the part about geoengineering is in the main text of  *American
> Claimant*, at the end.  And for the first part, I tried Google
> Translate?  How did they do?
>
> Aucune météo ne sera trouvée dans ce livre. Il s'agit d'une tentative de
> tirer un livre sans temps. Il s'agit de la première tentative du genre dans
> la littérature fictive, cela peut s'avérer un échec, mais cela a semblé
> valoir la peine pour un casse-cou de l'essayer, et l'auteur était juste
> d'humeur. Beaucoup de lecteurs qui voulaient lire un conte jusqu'au bout
> n'ont pas pu le faire en raison de retards dus au temps. Rien ne brise les
> progrès d'un auteur comme devoir s'arrêter toutes les quelques pages pour
> perturber la météo. Ainsi, il est clair que les intrusions persistantes du
> temps sont mauvaises à la fois pour le lecteur et pour l'auteur. Bien sûr,
> le temps est nécessaire à un récit de l'expérience humaine. Cela est
> concédé. Mais il doit être placé là où il ne gênera pas; où il
> n'interrompra pas le flux du récit. Et ce devrait être la meilleure météo
> qui soit, et non une météo amateur ignorante et de mauvaise qualité. La
> météo est une spécialité littéraire, et aucune main inexpérimentée ne peut
> en faire un bon article. Le présent auteur ne peut faire que quelques
> insignifiants genres ordinaires de temps, et il ne peut pas faire ceux qui
> sont très bons. Il a donc semblé plus sage d'emprunter la météo nécessaire
> à l'ouvrage à des experts qualifiés et reconnus, bien entendu. Cette météo
> se trouvera dans la partie arrière du livre, à l'écart. Voir l'annexe. Le
> lecteur est prié de se retourner et de se servir de temps en temps au fur
> et à mesure de son cheminement.
>
>
> Alan
>
> On 5/6/2022 6:13 AM, olivier boucher wrote:
>
> Hi Alan,
>
> It would be a nice fit to our "le temps des écrivains" section of our
> three-monthly meteorological journal.
>
> See an example here:
> https://lameteorologie.fr/issues/2017/98/meteo_2017_98_52  The section
> reproduces selected writings on the weather.
>
> I checked and there is a French translation of the American Claimant,
> unfortunately the foreword and annex were not translated at the time.
>
> All the best,
>
> Olivier
>
>
> --
>
> *De: *"Alan Robock" 
> 
> *À: *"geoengineering" 
> 
> *Envoyé: *Jeudi 5 Mai 2022 22:07:28
> *Objet: *[geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer
>
>
>
> Dear All,
>
> In these days with so much troubling news in the air, I thought some humor
> would help.
>
> It turns out that Mark Twain was the first geoengineer, as 

RE: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

[SALTER Stephen]

Jim
Tilting the earth’s axis back to the angle it should have been if properly 
constructed would save a great deal of energy for heating and air-conditioning 
but anything proposed by a gun club sounds rather energy intensive.  A better 
way would be to set up a standing wave pattern called a seich in a sea region 
running north and south with a period of 24 hours.  The Adriatic looks 
promising.  We would need a reflecting wall at one end and a line of 
energy-absorbing and recycling wave-makers at the other.  With deep water and 
no wave breaking the system is quite efficient.  It would take quite a while 
but this would give time for people to decide on the best angle. Once you get 
it going it takes little extra energy to overcome losses.
Stephen


From: geoengineering@googlegroups.com  On 
Behalf Of Jim Fleming
Sent: Friday, May 6, 2022 5:07 PM
To: Alan Robock 
Cc: olivier boucher ; geoengineering 

Subject: Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

This email was sent to you by someone outside the University.
You should only click on links or attachments if you are certain that the email 
is genuine and the content is safe.
Thanks for the kind acknowledgment Alan.
I told Oliver Boucher there are more geo-engineering science fiction vignettes 
he could use from my 2010 book, Fixing the Sky. One example is Jules Verne, 
Sans Dessus Dessous, published in 1889 and appearing simultaneously in English 
as The Purchase of the North Pole. The Baltimore Gun Club attempts to change 
the Earth's tilt, for profit.



Best regards,

Jim



On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 11:45 AM Alan Robock ☮ 
mailto:rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu>> wrote:
Dear Olivier,

First I want to apologize to Jim Fleming.  He pointed out to me that he 
discusses the same passages of American Claimant is his wonderful 2010 book 
Fixing the Sky (which all of you must have read already, and if not, you need 
to read) on pp. 27-30.  So although I had forgotten that I read it (I'm old), 
it must have still been stuck in my brain somewhere.  Nevertheless, I did 
really rediscover it by reading the book, and it is still worth reminding us 
all of it.

Second, the part about geoengineering is in the main text of  American 
Claimant, at the end.  And for the first part, I tried Google Translate?  How 
did they do?

Aucune météo ne sera trouvée dans ce livre. Il s'agit d'une tentative de tirer 
un livre sans temps. Il s'agit de la première tentative du genre dans la 
littérature fictive, cela peut s'avérer un échec, mais cela a semblé valoir la 
peine pour un casse-cou de l'essayer, et l'auteur était juste d'humeur. 
Beaucoup de lecteurs qui voulaient lire un conte jusqu'au bout n'ont pas pu le 
faire en raison de retards dus au temps. Rien ne brise les progrès d'un auteur 
comme devoir s'arrêter toutes les quelques pages pour perturber la météo. 
Ainsi, il est clair que les intrusions persistantes du temps sont mauvaises à 
la fois pour le lecteur et pour l'auteur. Bien sûr, le temps est nécessaire à 
un récit de l'expérience humaine. Cela est concédé. Mais il doit être placé là 
où il ne gênera pas; où il n'interrompra pas le flux du récit. Et ce devrait 
être la meilleure météo qui soit, et non une météo amateur ignorante et de 
mauvaise qualité. La météo est une spécialité littéraire, et aucune main 
inexpérimentée ne peut en faire un bon article. Le présent auteur ne peut faire 
que quelques insignifiants genres ordinaires de temps, et il ne peut pas faire 
ceux qui sont très bons. Il a donc semblé plus sage d'emprunter la météo 
nécessaire à l'ouvrage à des experts qualifiés et reconnus, bien entendu. Cette 
météo se trouvera dans la partie arrière du livre, à l'écart. Voir l'annexe. Le 
lecteur est prié de se retourner et de se servir de temps en temps au fur et à 
mesure de son cheminement.

Alan

On 5/6/2022 6:13 AM, olivier boucher wrote:
Hi Alan,
It would be a nice fit to our "le temps des écrivains" section of our 
three-monthly meteorological journal.
See an example here: https://lameteorologie.fr/issues/2017/98/meteo_2017_98_52  
The section reproduces selected writings on the weather.
I checked and there is a French translation of the American Claimant, 
unfortunately the foreword and annex were not translated at the time.
All the best,
Olivier


De: "Alan Robock" 
À: "geoengineering" 

Envoyé: Jeudi 5 Mai 2022 22:07:28
Objet: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

Dear All,

In these days with so much troubling news in the air, I thought some humor 
would help.

It turns out that Mark Twain was the first geoengineer, as explained in his 
book American Claimant, written in 1891.  After beginning the book with this 
hilarious explanation about weather,

“No weather will be found in this book. This is an attempt to pull a book 
through without weather. It being the first attempt of the kind in fictitious 
literature, it may prove a 

Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

[Jim Fleming]

Thanks for the kind acknowledgment Alan.
I told Oliver Boucher there are more geo-engineering science fiction
vignettes he could use from my 2010 book, Fixing the Sky. One example is
Jules Verne, Sans Dessus Dessous, published in 1889 and appearing
simultaneously in English as The Purchase of the North Pole. The Baltimore
Gun Club attempts to change the Earth's tilt, for profit.


Best regards,

Jim



On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 11:45 AM Alan Robock ☮ 
wrote:

> Dear Olivier,
>
> First I want to apologize to Jim Fleming.  He pointed out to me that he
> discusses the same passages of *American Claimant* is his wonderful 2010
> book *Fixing the Sk**y *(which all of you must have read already, and if
> not, you need to read) on pp. 27-30.  So although I had forgotten that I
> read it (I'm old), it must have still been stuck in my brain somewhere.
> Nevertheless, I did really rediscover it by reading the book, and it is
> still worth reminding us all of it.
>
> Second, the part about geoengineering is in the main text of  *American
> Claimant*, at the end.  And for the first part, I tried Google
> Translate?  How did they do?
>
> Aucune météo ne sera trouvée dans ce livre. Il s'agit d'une tentative de
> tirer un livre sans temps. Il s'agit de la première tentative du genre dans
> la littérature fictive, cela peut s'avérer un échec, mais cela a semblé
> valoir la peine pour un casse-cou de l'essayer, et l'auteur était juste
> d'humeur. Beaucoup de lecteurs qui voulaient lire un conte jusqu'au bout
> n'ont pas pu le faire en raison de retards dus au temps. Rien ne brise les
> progrès d'un auteur comme devoir s'arrêter toutes les quelques pages pour
> perturber la météo. Ainsi, il est clair que les intrusions persistantes du
> temps sont mauvaises à la fois pour le lecteur et pour l'auteur. Bien sûr,
> le temps est nécessaire à un récit de l'expérience humaine. Cela est
> concédé. Mais il doit être placé là où il ne gênera pas; où il
> n'interrompra pas le flux du récit. Et ce devrait être la meilleure météo
> qui soit, et non une météo amateur ignorante et de mauvaise qualité. La
> météo est une spécialité littéraire, et aucune main inexpérimentée ne peut
> en faire un bon article. Le présent auteur ne peut faire que quelques
> insignifiants genres ordinaires de temps, et il ne peut pas faire ceux qui
> sont très bons. Il a donc semblé plus sage d'emprunter la météo nécessaire
> à l'ouvrage à des experts qualifiés et reconnus, bien entendu. Cette météo
> se trouvera dans la partie arrière du livre, à l'écart. Voir l'annexe. Le
> lecteur est prié de se retourner et de se servir de temps en temps au fur
> et à mesure de son cheminement.
>
> Alan
>
>
> On 5/6/2022 6:13 AM, olivier boucher wrote:
>
> Hi Alan,
> It would be a nice fit to our "le temps des écrivains" section of our
> three-monthly meteorological journal.
> See an example here:
> https://lameteorologie.fr/issues/2017/98/meteo_2017_98_52  The section
> reproduces selected writings on the weather.
> I checked and there is a French translation of the American Claimant,
> unfortunately the foreword and annex were not translated at the time.
> All the best,
> Olivier
>
> --
> *De: *"Alan Robock" 
> 
> *À: *"geoengineering" 
> 
> *Envoyé: *Jeudi 5 Mai 2022 22:07:28
> *Objet: *[geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer
>
> Dear All,
>
> In these days with so much troubling news in the air, I thought some humor
> would help.
>
> It turns out that Mark Twain was the first geoengineer, as explained in
> his book *American Claimant*, written in 1891.  After beginning the book
> with this hilarious explanation about weather,
>
> “No weather will be found in this book. This is an attempt to pull a book
> through without weather. It being the first attempt of the kind in
> fictitious literature, it may prove a failure, but it seemed worth the
> while of some dare-devil person to try it, and the author was in just the
> mood. Many a reader who wanted to read a tale through was not able to do it
> because of delays on account of the weather. Nothing breaks up an author’s
> progress like having to stop every few pages to fuss-up the weather. Thus
> it is plain that persistent intrusions of weather are bad for both reader
> and author. Of course weather is necessary to a narrative of human
> experience. That is conceded. But it ought to be put where it will not be
> in the way; where it will not interrupt the flow of the narrative. And it
> ought to be the ablest weather that can be had, not ignorant, poor-quality,
> amateur weather. Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can
> turn out a good article of it. The present author can do only a few
> trifling ordinary kinds of weather, and he cannot do those very good. So it
> has seemed wisest to borrow such weather as is necessary for the book from
> qualified and recognized experts—giving credit, of course. This weather
> will be found over in the back part of the book, out of the 

Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

[Alan Robock ☮]

Dear Olivier,

First I want to apologize to Jim Fleming.  He pointed out to me that he 
discusses the same passages of /American Claimant/ is his wonderful 2010 
book /Fixing the Sk//y /(which all of you must have read already, and if 
not, you need to read) on pp. 27-30. So although I had forgotten that I 
read it (I'm old), it must have still been stuck in my brain somewhere.  
Nevertheless, I did really rediscover it by reading the book, and it is 
still worth reminding us all of it.


Second, the part about geoengineering is in the main text of /American 
Claimant/, at the end.  And for the first part, I tried Google 
Translate?  How did they do?


Aucune météo ne sera trouvée dans ce livre. Il s'agit d'une tentative de 
tirer un livre sans temps. Il s'agit de la première tentative du genre 
dans la littérature fictive, cela peut s'avérer un échec, mais cela a 
semblé valoir la peine pour un casse-cou de l'essayer, et l'auteur était 
juste d'humeur. Beaucoup de lecteurs qui voulaient lire un conte 
jusqu'au bout n'ont pas pu le faire en raison de retards dus au temps. 
Rien ne brise les progrès d'un auteur comme devoir s'arrêter toutes les 
quelques pages pour perturber la météo. Ainsi, il est clair que les 
intrusions persistantes du temps sont mauvaises à la fois pour le 
lecteur et pour l'auteur. Bien sûr, le temps est nécessaire à un récit 
de l'expérience humaine. Cela est concédé. Mais il doit être placé là où 
il ne gênera pas; où il n'interrompra pas le flux du récit. Et ce 
devrait être la meilleure météo qui soit, et non une météo amateur 
ignorante et de mauvaise qualité. La météo est une spécialité 
littéraire, et aucune main inexpérimentée ne peut en faire un bon 
article. Le présent auteur ne peut faire que quelques insignifiants 
genres ordinaires de temps, et il ne peut pas faire ceux qui sont très 
bons. Il a donc semblé plus sage d'emprunter la météo nécessaire à 
l'ouvrage à des experts qualifiés et reconnus, bien entendu. Cette météo 
se trouvera dans la partie arrière du livre, à l'écart. Voir l'annexe. 
Le lecteur est prié de se retourner et de se servir de temps en temps au 
fur et à mesure de son cheminement.


Alan


On 5/6/2022 6:13 AM, olivier boucher wrote:

Hi Alan,
It would be a nice fit to our "le temps des écrivains" section of our 
three-monthly meteorological journal.
See an example here: 
https://lameteorologie.fr/issues/2017/98/meteo_2017_98_52 The section 
reproduces selected writings on the weather.
I checked and there is a French translation of the American Claimant, 
unfortunately the foreword and annex were not translated at the time.

All the best,
Olivier


*De: *"Alan Robock" 
*À: *"geoengineering" 
*Envoyé: *Jeudi 5 Mai 2022 22:07:28
*Objet: *[geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

Dear All,

In these days with so much troubling news in the air, I thought some 
humor would help.


It turns out that Mark Twain was the first geoengineer, as explained 
in his book /American Claimant/, written in 1891.  After beginning the 
book with this hilarious explanation about weather,


“No weather will be found in this book. This is an attempt to pull a 
book through without weather. It being the first attempt of the kind 
in fictitious literature, it may prove a failure, but it seemed worth 
the while of some dare-devil person to try it, and the author was in 
just the mood. Many a reader who wanted to read a tale through was not 
able to do it because of delays on account of the weather. Nothing 
breaks up an author’s progress like having to stop every few pages to 
fuss-up the weather. Thus it is plain that persistent intrusions of 
weather are bad for both reader and author. Of course weather is 
necessary to a narrative of human experience. That is conceded. But it 
ought to be put where it will not be in the way; where it will not 
interrupt the flow of the narrative. And it ought to be the ablest 
weather that can be had, not ignorant, poor-quality, amateur weather. 
Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a 
good article of it. The present author can do only a few trifling 
ordinary kinds of weather, and he cannot do those very good. So it has 
seemed wisest to borrow such weather as is necessary for the book from 
qualified and recognized experts—giving credit, of course. This 
weather will be found over in the back part of the book, out of the 
way. See Appendix. The reader is requested to turn over and help 
himself from time to time as he goes along.”


he ends the book with geoengineering.  Speaking is Colonel Sellers to 
his partner, describing his money-making scheme:


“This grand new idea of mine—the sublimest I have ever conceived, will 
save me whole, I am sure. I am leaving for San Francisco this moment, 
to test it, by the help of the great Lick telescope. Like all of my 
more notable discoveries and inventions, it is based upon hard, 
practical 

[geo] why SRM is necessary

[Phil M]

Hi, I've heard that SRM is necessary because neither emissions reductions 
nor GHG removal strategies, even if enacted globally with gusto, can 
possibly impact rising temperatures before we won't have an ecosystem left 
that can support human life, or most other life for that matter. So it's 
really about not having enough time left to NOT turn to SRM, which also 
voids the moral hazard argument as well. But I haven't been able to find 
any hard research confirming this. Has anyone found such research?

-- 
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 geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/be5b2788-05b7-43cd-bf48-42266cbfcfa9n%40googlegroups.com.

Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer

[olivier boucher]

Hi Alan, 
It would be a nice fit to our "le temps des écrivains" section of our 
three-monthly meteorological journal. 
See an example here: [ 
https://lameteorologie.fr/issues/2017/98/meteo_2017_98_52 | 
https://lameteorologie.fr/issues/2017/98/meteo_2017_98_52 ] The section 
reproduces selected writings on the weather. 
I checked and there is a French translation of the American Claimant, 
unfortunately the foreword and annex were not translated at the time. 
All the best, 
Olivier 


De: "Alan Robock"  
À: "geoengineering"  
Envoyé: Jeudi 5 Mai 2022 22:07:28 
Objet: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer 

Dear All, 

In these days with so much troubling news in the air, I thought some humor 
would help. 

It turns out that Mark Twain was the first geoengineer, as explained in his 
book American Claimant , written in 1891. After beginning the book with this 
hilarious explanation about weather, 

“No weather will be found in this book. This is an attempt to pull a book 
through without weather. It being the first attempt of the kind in fictitious 
literature, it may prove a failure, but it seemed worth the while of some 
dare-devil person to try it, and the author was in just the mood. Many a reader 
who wanted to read a tale through was not able to do it because of delays on 
account of the weather. Nothing breaks up an author’s progress like having to 
stop every few pages to fuss-up the weather. Thus it is plain that persistent 
intrusions of weather are bad for both reader and author. Of course weather is 
necessary to a narrative of human experience. That is conceded. But it ought to 
be put where it will not be in the way; where it will not interrupt the flow of 
the narrative. And it ought to be the ablest weather that can be had, not 
ignorant, poor-quality, amateur weather. Weather is a literary specialty, and 
no untrained hand can turn out a good article of it. The present author can do 
only a few trifling ordinary kinds of weather, and he cannot do those very 
good. So it has seemed wisest to borrow such weather as is necessary for the 
book from qualified and recognized experts—giving credit, of course. This 
weather will be found over in the back part of the book, out of the way. See 
Appendix. The reader is requested to turn over and help himself from time to 
time as he goes along.” 

he ends the book with geoengineering. Speaking is Colonel Sellers to his 
partner, describing his money-making scheme: 

“This grand new idea of mine—the sublimest I have ever conceived, will save me 
whole, I am sure. I am leaving for San Francisco this moment, to test it, by 
the help of the great Lick telescope. Like all of my more notable discoveries 
and inventions, it is based upon hard, practical scientific laws; all other 
bases are unsound and hence untrustworthy. In brief, then, I have conceived the 
stupendous idea of reorganizing the climates of the earth according to the 
desire of the populations interested. That is to say, I will furnish climates 
to order, for cash or negotiable paper, taking the old climates in part 
payment, of course, at a fair discount, where they are in condition to be 
repaired at small cost and let out for hire to poor and remote communities not 
able to afford a good climate and not caring for an expensive one for mere 
display. My studies have convinced me that the regulation of climates and the 
breeding of new varieties at will from the old stock is a feasible thing. 
Indeed I am convinced that it has been done before; done in prehistoric times 
by now forgotten and unrecorded civilizations. Everywhere I find hoary 
evidences of artificial manipulation of climates in bygone times. Take the 
glacial period. Was that produced by accident? Not at all; it was done for 
money. I have a thousand proofs of it, and will someday reveal them. 

“I will confide to you an outline of my idea. It is to utilize the spots on the 
sun—get control of them, you understand, and apply the stupendous energies 
which they wield to beneficent purposes in the reorganizing of our climates. At 
present they merely make trouble and do harm in the evoking of cyclones and 
other kinds of electric storms; but once under humane and intelligent control 
this will cease and they will become a boon to man. I have my plan all mapped 
out, whereby I hope and expect to acquire complete and perfect control of the 
sun-spots, also details of the method whereby I shall employ the same 
commercially; but I will not venture to go into particulars before the patents 
shall have been issued. I shall hope and expect to sell shop-rights to the 
minor countries at a reasonable figure and supply a good business article of 
climate to the great empires at special rates, together with fancy brands for 
coronations, battles and other great and particular occasions. There are 
billions of money in this enterprise, no expensive plant is required, and I 
shall begin to realize in a few days—in a few weeks at