Comments on: Energy and Global Warming News for July 21st: American Meteorological Society endorses geoengineering research

By: Jane M

Jane M — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:09:33 +0000

Try the following:

http://astore.amazon.com/gt09a-20

Great initiative !!!

Jane M.

By: Lucas

Lucas — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:20:55 +0000

@Jim Beacon,
“Reforestation is a great plan, but given the growth rate of new trees it will take 15 to 20 years before they are really sucking up a lot of CO2 and in that time we will have produced a lot more. So, yeah, gotta cut our own CO2 output as the #1 priority. There’s reason we can’t do reforestation at the same time, however. By the way, planting trees is something most individuals can do on their own easily and cheaply. How many have each of us planted this year?”
Reforestation is a way to reclaim degraded land and we have a good supply of degraded land. The fixation of CO2 (in the long run, I know) is a sweet side effect.
“Use the Space Shuttle fleet to quickly build a gigantic mylar “sun umbrella” out in space which would block a small percentage of the sunlight from reaching the Earth. It could be adjusted (repositioned) as necessary to fine tune the results. It would only need to be a few millimeters thick with a lightweight support structure and could be assembled with incredibly simple construction techniques. It would be relatively inexpensive, since it could be fabricated from off-the-shelf materials that are already manufactured in large quantities and put in place with spaceships we already have paid for and which are operating today.”
OK, let’s suppose that this techno-fix solves the climate crisis without adverse effects (mmm, what about reduced photosynthetic capacity? Someone has to done the maths) for the planet. We’d have solved only one of the symptoms of our disease: the unsustainable use of energy and the disruption of the carbon cycle. Ocean acidification and fossil fuel depletion would continue unabated under any tehno-fix that involves managing the incoming solar energy. That’s the reason of my support for biochar.

In other news, the denialosphere is using the tough winter here in South America as evidence for the nonexistence of GW.

By: CapitalClimate

CapitalClimate — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:17:08 +0000

The AMS policy statement was approved with caution by the Society Council on July 20.

By: Sable

Sable — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:34:42 +0000

Hey Vested!

Our effect on the planet is “near zero”? Are we talking about the same planet? We’ve already had an enormous impact on our world, resulting in either long term or permanent damage. This has often caused economic damage too. Do you really need a list?

Even if we put aside the well supported science, “common sense” would tell you that you can’t keep pumping megatons of a heat trapping gas like CO2 into an essentially closed system without getting some likely nasty results. So like a chain smoker in a McMansion’s living room, you’re gonna’ eventually breath the smoke in every room of the house.

Bush senior once said (I paraphrase), “…the economy of the United States is more important than the environment”. Absolutely asinine. No environment, no economy.

By: John Hollenberg

John Hollenberg — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:03:34 +0000

Vested in the Status Quo:

Try educating yourself about global climate change, which has a very long history, by reading “The Discovery of Global Warming”:

http://www.aip.org/history/climate/

This is not some fad, it is the culmination of over a century of scientific discoveries and research.

By: Vested, Texas

Vested, Texas — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:36:28 +0000

People. The human effect on the planet/atomsphere/universe is near ZERO. Man-made global warming is a farce – an expensive farce that will bankrupt us if we let it. There have been numerous natural events that have indeed affected the environment, but none of them – including atomic bombs dropped on Japan during WWII – have caused measurable climate change. Yes. We need to clean up our air and our water and our waste. We expecially need to get the Rednecks to stop throwing their trash out the windows of their vehicles and leaving junk cars in the yards of their mobile homes. But, we can’t go back to the stone age for energy resources. Please give common sense a try.

By: Jim Beacon

Jim Beacon — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:36:10 +0000

Reforestation is a great plan, but given the growth rate of new trees it will take 15 to 20 years before they are really sucking up a lot of CO2 and in that time we will have produced a lot more. So, yeah, gotta cut our own CO2 output as the #1 priority. There’s reason we can’t do reforestation at the same time, however. By the way, planting trees is something most individuals can do on their own easily and cheaply. How many have each of us planted this year?

But, since so many people (and Americans in particular) just *love* the idea of the Big Tech Instant Solution, there’s only one idea along those lines I’ve heard that is virtually guaranteed to work, is cost-effective, is adjustable and can be REVERSED easily if it doesn’t quite work out as well as planned:

Use the Space Shuttle fleet to quickly build a gigantic mylar “sun umbrella” out in space which would block a small percentage of the sunlight from reaching the Earth. It could be adjusted (repositioned) as necessary to fine tune the results. It would only need to be a few millimeters thick with a lightweight support structure and could be assembled with incredibly simple construction techniques. It would be relatively inexpensive, since it could be fabricated from off-the-shelf materials that are already manufactured in large quantities and put in place with spaceships we already have paid for and which are operating today.

Finally, it could be put in place so fast that we can actually *wait* to try it until it becomes obvious that everything else we’ve done is not going to be enough.

Of course, this plan would not only work, but it does not require any hacking of the planet — so, no tinkering with the Earth’s oceans or atmosphere — and what fun is that?

By: Wilma

Wilma — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:23:02 +0000

Has any one happened to go outside, look up, and see sky graffiti?

By: John McCormick

John McCormick — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:54:17 +0000

Secular, you said:

[The way to do this is through (1) a massive worldwide program of reforestation (and of course preservation of existing forests)]

Thanks for your simple solution. Why has it taken us this long to understand how easy it will be?

By: Peter Valentini

Peter Valentini — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:59:05 +0000

Solar Battery Chargers is what I use to save me money! They work so well, I think everyone should have one!