Andrew,
Poor analogy. running does not equal running away.
More importantly, just because a term has been misused in the
past does not mean we should perpetuate its misuse (or use).
If the word is to be used at all (and, as a practicing scientist,
I never have or will), one should start off by s
For better or worse, the term is now in general use in scientific,
industrial, environmental and general media. (See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_climate_change for refs.)
I don't agree with Tom about 'to infinity and beyond'. I run as a
hobby, and I've never run to infinity (or beyond)
Dear All,
I've said this before, but here goes again.
If one sticks to dictionary definitions of words (which I
think is wise) then there is no such thing as "runaway"
climate change. Strictly, using the words of Buzz Lightyear,
"runaway" must mean "to infinity and beyond".
Further, the word "r
A very interesting idea. Some random thoughts:
1) Geoeng proposals often involve carbonate rock. Should we be
looking at these too?
2) A lot of aquifers are depleted due to pumping. Does anyone know
the effect on the carbon cycle?
3) Freeze-thaw cycling is responsible for a lot of surface wea
Andrew,
1. I think the concept of runaway climate change is kosher. See this quote
from
http://www.meridian.org.uk/_PDFs/FeedbackDynamics.pdf
"The possibility of a tipping point in the earth system as a whole which
prevents the recovery of stable equilibrium and leads to a process of
runaw
Just another brainstormy (i.e. no idea whether it's any good) idea: in
the long run, what takes CO2 out of the atmosphere is weathering of
silicate rock to produce carbonate that winds up in sediment. I think
that in many areas the soil and subsoil (where groundwater percolates)
are fairly comple
All roads lead to Jesse Ausubel at Rockefeller University, who
mentioned IIASA explored something related to this a long time ago. I
did some googling but couldn't find more. I'll send a query to Jesse
and see what turns up.
At 8:07 PM -0800 1/31/09, Ning Zeng wrote:
>Hello Andy:
>Thanks for t
I'm working on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_climate_change
and there are a few crucial questions I could do with help on:
1) Is the term 'Runaway climate change' seen as kosher, or is it
purely a pop-science concept?
2) How widespread is support for the idea of an ice-albedo followed by
