Based on the history of our intelligence agencies involvement in secret kidnappings and torture, killing noncombatants with drones, spying on our telecommunications, etc, we can take it as a given that secret US governmental organizations will engage in criminal behavior.
However, we should be entirely clear: *There is absolutely no evidence that any US intelligence agency has any interest in climate intervention for anything other than defense-related * *informational **purposes.* *Furthermore, there is no plausible scenario in which climate intervention could be used effectively as a weapon.* So, while I share Alan's contempt for the criminal behavior of our secretive governmental agencies, I do not think it is helpful to speculate that in this instance, the agencies are looking for new ways that they might inflict suffering on others. Best, Ken _______________ Ken Caldeira Carnegie Institution for Science Dept of Global Ecology 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA +1 650 704 7212 [email protected] http://kencaldeira.com https://twitter.com/KenCaldeira My assistant is Dawn Ross <[email protected]>, with access to incoming emails. On Sun, Feb 15, 2015 at 8:08 AM, Alan Robock <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Mick, > > The Daily Mail article is true. > > But you might also be interested in the more informative BBC interview: > > http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31475761 > > 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 > > On 2/14/15, 10:30 PM, Mick West wrote: > > The Daily Mail story about CIA inquiries concerning covert geoengineering > is interesting because I actually posed a very similar question to the > Geoengineering list three years ago, to which both of you (Alan and Andrew) > responded directly. > > https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/geoengineering/UzNzNyJIZ2g/Qvs7XFNK5doJ > > So I was wondering Alan, if is this the Daily Mail's dramatic retelling > of this exchange, or were there actually "CIA" men calling you asking > similar questions? > > Mick > > On Sat, Feb 14, 2015 at 6:56 PM, Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Poster's note : Robock tweeted this, so it's probably not entirely >> inaccurate. (Members outside the UK may not be aware that the Daily Mail is >> widely derided.) >> >> >> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-2954051/Chill-factor-CIA-weather-query.html >> >> Chill factor at 'CIA' weather query >> >> By Press Association >> 00:43 15 Feb 2015, >> >> A leading American climate scientist has said he felt "scared" when a >> shadowy organisation claiming to represent the CIA asked him about the >> possibility of weaponised weather. >> >> Professor Alan Robock received a call three years ago from two men >> wanting to know if experts would be able to spot a hostile force's attempts >> to upset the US climate. >> >> But he suspected the real intention was to find out how feasible it might >> be to secretly interfere with the climate of another country. >> >> The professor, from the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers >> University, New Jersey, has investigated the potential risks and benefits >> of using stratospheric particles to simulate the climate-changing effects >> of volcanic eruptions. >> >> Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the >> Advancement of Science in San Jose, California, where he took part in a >> debate on geoengineering to combat climate change, Prof Robock said: " I >> got a phone call from two men who said we work as consultants for the CIA >> and we'd like to know if some other country was controlling our climate, >> would we know about it?"I told them, after thinking a little bit, that we >> probably would because if you put enough material in the atmosphere to >> reflect sunlight we would be able to detect it and see the equipment that >> was putting it up there."At the same time I thought they were probably also >> interested in if we could control somebody else's climate, could they >> detect it?" >> >> Asked how he felt when the approach was made, he said: "Scared. I'd >> learned of lots of other things the CIA had done that haven't followed the >> rules and I thought that wasn't how I wanted my tax money spent. I think >> this research has to be in the open and international so there isn't any >> question of it being used for hostile purposes." >> >> Geoengineering to offset the effects of global warming could include >> scattering sulphur particles in the upper atmosphere to re-direct sunlight >> back into space, seeding the oceans with iron to encourage the spread of >> carbon-hungry algae, and creating reflective areas on the Earth's surface. >> >> But the long-term effects of such strategies are largely unknown and many >> experts fear they may pose grave risks. >> >> A further twist in Prof Robock's story concerns the CIA's alleged >> co-funding of a major report on geoengineering published this week by the >> prestigious US National Academy of Sciences.The report mentions the "US >> intelligence community" in its list of sponsors, which also includes the >> American space agency Nasa, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric >> Administration, and the US Department of Energy. >> >> Prof Robock said the CIA had told one of his colleagues it wanted to fund >> the report, but apparently did not want this fact to be too obvious. >> >> "The CIA is a major funder of the National Academies report so that makes >> me really worried who is going to be in control," he added. >> >> He pointed out that the US had a history of using the weather in a >> hostile way. During the Vietnam War clouds were seeded over the Ho Chi Minh >> trail - a footpath-based supply route used by the North Vietnamese - to >> make the track muddy in an attempt to cut it off. >> >> The CIA had also seeded clouds over Cuba "to make it rain and ruin the >> sugar harvest".During a press conference on the potential risks of >> geoengineering, Prof Robock was asked what its greatest hazard might be. >> >> He replied: "The answer is global nuclear war because if one country >> wants to control the climate in one way, and another doesn't want it or if >> they try to shoot down the planes ... if there is no agreement, it could >> result in terrible consequences." >> >> >> >> -- >> 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. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. 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