Saturday 30 October 2010

CASE 135 - Geo-engineering



"I have often wondered what the reason for the global carbon tax is, welcome to Geo-engineering"

Planetary engineering is the application of technology for the purpose of influencing the global properties of a planet. The goal of this theoretical task is usually to make other worlds habitable for life. Perhaps the best-known type of planetary engineering is terraforming, by which a planet's surface conditions are altered to be more like those of Earth. Other types of planetary engineering include ecopoiesis, the introduction of an ecology to a lifeless environment. Planetary engineering is largely the realm of science fiction at present, although some types of climate change on Earth are recent evidence that humans can cause change on a global scale.

Convention on Biodiversity imposes moratorium on geo-engineering - Japan / 28th Oct 2010
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299588

Terraforming is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to those of Earth in order to make it habitable by humans.

Geoengineering is the application of planetary engineering techniques to Earth. Recent geoengineering proposals have principally been methods to tackle human-induced climate change by either removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (e.g. using ocean iron fertilisation) or by managing solar radiation (e.g. by using mirrors in space) in order to negate the net warming effect of climate change. The modern concept of geoengineering (or climate engineering) is usually taken to mean proposals to deliberately manipulate the Earth's climate to counteract the effects of global warming from greenhouse gas emissions. The National Academy of Sciences defined geoengineering as "options that would involve large-scale engineering of our environment in order to combat or counteract the effects of changes in atmospheric chemistry." IPCC (2007) concluded that geoengineering options, such as ocean fertilization to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, remained largely unproven. It was judged that reliable cost estimates for geoengineering had not yet been published. Geoengineering accompanies mitigation and adaptation to form a 3-stranded 'MAG' approach to tackling global warming, notably advocated by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Some geoengineering techniques are based on carbon sequestration. These techniques seek to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere directly. These include direct methods (e.g. carbon dioxide air capture) and indirect methods (e.g. ocean iron fertilization). These techniques can be regarded as mitigation of global warming. Alternatively, solar radiation management techniques do not reduce greenhouse gas concentrations, and can only address the warming effects of carbon dioxide and other gases; they cannot address problems such as ocean acidification, which are expected as a result of rising carbon dioxide levels. Examples of proposed solar radiation management techniques include the production of stratospheric sulfur aerosols, which was suggested by Paul Crutzen, space mirrors, and cloud reflectivity enhancement. Most techniques have at least some side effects. To date, no large-scale geoengineering projects have been undertaken. Some limited tree planting and cool roof projects are already underway, and ocean iron fertilization is at an advanced stage of research, with small-scale research trials and global modelling having been completed. Field research into sulfur aerosols has also started. Some commentators have suggested that consideration of geoengineering presents a moral hazard because it threatens to reduce the political and popular pressure for emissions reduction. Typically, the scientists and engineers proposing geoengineering strategies do not suggest that they are an alternative to emissions control, but rather an accompanying strategy. Reviews of geoengineering techniques have emphasised that they are not substitutes for emission controls and have identified potentially stronger and weaker schemes.

Geoengineering: More Political and Moral Than Scientific?
http://cientifica.eu/blog/2009/05/geoengineering-more-political-and-moral-than-scientific/



Please read CASE 010 - HAARP

No comments: