[geo] Re: ERL papers on line

[John Nissen]

Thanks for the reference to the Environmental Research Letters, David. Only Mike MacCracken's paper considers the context for geoengineering.  If we are going to have to use geoengineering to tackle certain problems, how should we approach it.  He considers three problem areas: 1) the warming of low-latitude oceans which contribute to more intense tropical cyclones and coral bleaching; 2) the amplified warming of high latitudes and the associated melting of ice that has been accelerating sea level rise and altering mid-latitude weather; 3) the projected reduction in the loading and cooling influence of sulphate aerosols, which has the potential to augment warming sufficient to trigger methane and carbon feedbacks. I would suggest that the amplified warming of (2) has the potential to trigger massive methane discharge (and associated positive feedback on global warming) of (3) as well as the potential to trigger rapid sea level rise.  The retreat of Arctic sea ice is part of the warming amplification process, so it is crucial to prevent its summer disappearance.  Do you agree, Mike? If you agree, then the importance of this (i.e. preventing Arctic sea ice summer disappearance) makes the arguments against geoengineering in the other papers seem rather irrelevant! Note that Mike has only considered the problems that could be addressed with SRM geoengineering.  If we consider problems such as ocean acidification, and addressing them with techniques such biochar, then the arguments in the other papers against geoengineering seem irrelevant to the point of absurdity - but then perhaps the arguments were directed at SRM geoengineering alone. Cheers from Chiswick, John --- David Keith wrote: Folks,   There is a set of papers on geoengineering on line at Environmental Research Letters. Ken Caldeira and I served as editors of this special issue. More papers and a editorial will be added later.   Cheers, David     http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1748-9326/4/4/045101   Focus on Climate Engineering: Intentional Intervention in the Climate System 2009 Environ. Res. Lett. 4 045101   doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/4/4/045101  Geoengineering techniques for countering climate change have been receiving much press recently as a `Plan B' if a global deal to tackle climate change is not agreed at the COP15 negotiations in Copenhagen this December. However, the field is controversial as the methods may have unforeseen consequences, potentially making temperatures rise in some regions or reducing rainfall, and many aspects remain under-researched. This focus issue of Environmental Research Letters is a collection of research articles, invited by David Keith, University of Calgary, and Ken Caldeira, Carnegie Institution, that present and evaluate different methods for engineering the Earth's climate. Not only do the letters in this issue highlight various methods of climate engineering but they also detail the arguments for and against climate engineering as a concept. Further reading Focus on Geoengineering at http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/subject/tag=geoengineering IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science is an open-access proceedings service available at www.iop.org/EJ/journal/ees Focus on Climate Engineering: Intentional Intervention in the Climate System Contents Modification of cirrus clouds to reduce global warming David L Mitchell and William Finnegan Climate engineering and the risk of rapid climate change Andrew Ross and H Damon Matthews Researching geoengineering: should not or could not? Martin Bunzl Of mongooses and mitigation: ecological analogues to geoengineering H Damon Matthews and Sarah E Turner Toward ethical norms and institutions for climate engineering research David R Morrow, Robert E Kopp and Michael Oppenheimer On the possible use of geoengineering to moderate specific climate change impacts Michael C MacCracken   --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---