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Today:
Geoengineering
Geoengineering is
purposeful human
alteration of the
environment.
Farmland and
cities are small to
medium scaled
geoengineered
landscapes
We already saw Dr. David Keith's video about
reducing the intensity of incoming sunlight...
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_keith_s_surprising_ideas_on_climate_change.html
Geoengineering:
If earth is instrumentally valuable, why should we
not alter it to suit human needs?
If it is intrinsically valuable, can we alter it without
affecting other organisms?
Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the
impacts of Global Climate Change
Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the
impacts of Global Climate Change
Local climate management has been/ is being
carried out in Russia and China...
Moscow’s plan is to disperse a mixture of silver
iodide, liquid nitrogen and cement powder into
clouds to trigger precipitation. The goal is to
minimize snowfall in the city, but results in
increased snowfall in the areas just outside
Moscow where the clouds empty their load.
http://www.nextnature.net/2009/11/moscow-wont-let-it-snow/
Controlling the weather in Moscow is nothing new. Ahead
of the two main holidays celebrated in the city each year —
Victory Day in May and City Day in September — the
often cash-strapped air force is paid to make sure that it
doesn't, well, rain on the parades. Cost ~$2-3 million
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1930822,00.html
Beijing's weather was modified to keep the 2008
Olympics dry.
In China there are 31 provincial or municipal
weather-modification offices in China. The
administration employs 52,998 people by its own
count.
http://www.plentymag.com/magazine/the_peoples_weather.php?page=1
Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the
impacts of Global Climate Change... The Ocean
A Novel Geoengineering Idea: Increase the
Ocean’s Quotient of Whale Poop
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/04/23/a-novel-geoengineering-idea-increase-the-oceans-quotient-of-whale-poop/
Before commercial whaling began, baleen whales
may have been the source of almost 12 percent of
all the iron in the Southern Ocean’s surface water.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/04/23/a-novel-geoengineering-idea-increase-the-oceans-quotient-of-whale-poop/
Efforts to test the effectiveness of adding
nutrients to the ocean have met with limited
success.
“Iron-Dumping Experiment Is a Bust: It Feeds
Crustaceans, Doesn’t Trap Carbon”
“Ocean Geoengineering
Scheme May Prove
Lethal”
http://news.discovery.com/earth/geoengineering-carbonsequestration-phytoplankton.html
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/03/24/iron-dumping-experiment-is-a-bust-it-feeds-crustaceans-doesnt-trap-carbon/
Bill Gates Funding Geoengineering Research,
including a plan to use ships to cool the ocean
and decrease hurricane strength
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/01/bill-gates-fund.html#more, http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-07/bill-gates-files-patent-hurricane-killer-plan
Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the
impacts of Global Climate Change... Remove CO2
from atmosphere
Machines to remove CO2 from atmosphere: Need
area about size of Arizona... Where to put the CO2?
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/multimedia/2007/12/YE_10_geoengineering
Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the
impacts of Global Climate Change... Block
incoming sunlight
Increase cloud cover
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/multimedia/2007/12/YE_10_geoengineering
Reflect sunlight from upper atmosphere/space
March 2010 meeting convened top geoengineers,
tried to develop guidelines, problems highlighted:

Political issues and National security
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100330/full/464656a.html
March 2010 meeting convened top geoengineers,
tried to develop guidelines, problems highlighted:

Political issues and National security

Testing effectiveness may be difficult
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100330/full/464656a.html
What does it take to change the climate?
Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull Volcano is not enough
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/18/iceland-volcano-pictures_n_541994.html
What does it take to change the climate?
Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991
What does it take to change the climate?
Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991
Lowered global temp. by
about 0.5oC
What does it take to change the climate?
Mt. Tambora erupted in 1815. The eruption was so
large the volcano went from ~14,000 ft. to ~9,000 ft.
This is not Tambora, it is Pinatubo
Tambora in 1815:
Tambora's volcanic cloud lowered global
temperatures by as much as 3oC. Even a year
after the eruption, most of the northern
hemisphere experienced sharply cooler
temperatures during the summer months. In
parts of Europe and in North America, 1816 was
known as "the year without a summer."
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Outreach/AboutVolcanoes/do_volcanoes_affect_weather.html
Ideas for using Geoengineering to lessen the
impacts of Global Climate Change
Today:
Geoengineering