Geoengineering

Cribbing this announcement from Roger. Here are some earlier posts and thoughts on geoengineering (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), as well as some more formal articles (6, 7, 8 & 9). I should probably re-read them to figure out what the hell I’m gonna say.

PANEL DISCUSSION GEOENGINEERING AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
POSSIBILITIES, PROMISES, PERILS

MONDAY, MARCH 29 AT 3:30 PM
CIRES AUDITORIUM
Directions

With a certain amount of anthropogenic climate change now “built in” to the system, the potential for rapid, irreversible outcomes, and doubts about the speed with which we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists and governments are beginning to contemplate deliberately engineering the earth’s climate system. Opinions among the scientific community span the spectrum from “it’s our responsibility to provide this tool for the toolbox” to revulsion at the hubris of the idea, and concerns that it could reduce pressure for greenhouse gas reductions. A flurry of reports and conferences have considered the feasibility of developing and deploying geoengineering, potential unintended consequences, and the difficulty of governing the technology in which some options may be unilaterally undertaken. This panel seeks to illuminate the many questions surrounding research on geoengineering, and the technology’s political and ethical dimensions; how does it compare with other solutions to global warming? Should we research it, much less seek to implement it? Is geoengineering acceptable because it addresses harms already done? How would we know when to use it? And who decides?

PANELISTS INCLUDE:

– Max Boykoff, CU Environmental Studies and Geography
– Lisa Dilling, CU Environmental Studies
– Benjamin Hale, CU Environmental Studies and Philosophy
– Roger Pielke, Jr., CU Environmental Studies
– Bill Travis, CU Environmental Studies and Geography

A reception will start at 3:00 pm in the CIRES auditorium (338), with the talk beginning at 3:30 PM. This event is being co-sponsored by the CIRES Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, the CU Environmental Studies Program, the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), and the Institute of Behavioral Science, Environment and Society Program.

That Sinking Feeling

Okay, this is a little unnerving. Strike one small island from the map of the globe. Climate change? Hard to say… could be a lot of things. Even still, relatively unfortunate, I’d say.

For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in theBay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island’s gone.

New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery andsea patrols, he said.