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I like that he mentions geo-engineering. To me, the most promising is stratospheric aerosol injection. I don't understand why there's not more talk about it giv

I like that he mentions geo-engineering. To me, the most promising is stratospheric aerosol injection. I don't understand why there's not more talk about it given the cost / value ratio. If it turns out that there are no serious side effects or risk and governments agree to do it, we have solved climate change.

acidburnNSA 7y ago
This pro geologist (James Conca) is talking about it. His favorite option is crushed shells/limestone. The side-effect is that they reduce ocean acidification. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/09/10/solar-geoengineering-we-better-do-it-or-well-burn/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/09/10/solar-geo...
scythe 7y ago
Dimming sunlight will reduce plant growth. CO2 extraction is more expensive but less worrying than any deflection-based technology in terms of side effects IMO. You could cover the desert with aluminum foil I guess. Might confuse the birds.
- birdyrooster 7y ago
  Also dimming might also have some effects on the fauna too. I know it’s a small change but on a global scale I bet there would be some pathology for humans and other animals.
hyperbovine 7y ago
> If it turns out that there are no serious side effects or risk Literally the only way to determine that would be to try it. And then let’s hope the proponents are correct, because if not... There is just so much we don’t understand about the global climate to think this sort of solution is a good idea. I’ll start taking the geoengineering people seriously when they can accurately predict the weather one month from now.
- ants_a 7y ago
  Predicting weather and predicting climate are almost completely different things. It's about predicting where a single state space trajectory of a chaotic system ends up versus predicting bounds and average positions for an ensemble of trajectories. The first is impossible, the second is routinely done. Think of a double pendulum, one can't predict where it is in an hour, but can predict reasonably accurately how high it can still go due to the amount of kinetic and potential energy it is going to have.
chillacy 7y ago
Absolutely, we've already been geo-engineering for the past 150 years by burning fossil fuels. The tricky part will be how to deal with different governments... what if a project to increase rainfall in the Gobi desert decreases rainfall in California?

acidburnNSA 7y ago

This pro geologist (James Conca) is talking about it. His favorite option is crushed shells/limestone. The side-effect is that they reduce ocean acidification. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/09/10/solar-geoengineering-we-better-do-it-or-well-burn/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/09/10/solar-geo...

scythe 7y ago

Dimming sunlight will reduce plant growth. CO2 extraction is more expensive but less worrying than any deflection-based technology in terms of side effects IMO. You could cover the desert with aluminum foil I guess. Might confuse the birds.

birdyrooster 7y ago
Also dimming might also have some effects on the fauna too. I know it’s a small change but on a global scale I bet there would be some pathology for humans and other animals.

hyperbovine 7y ago

> If it turns out that there are no serious side effects or risk Literally the only way to determine that would be to try it. And then let’s hope the proponents are correct, because if not... There is just so much we don’t understand about the global climate to think this sort of solution is a good idea. I’ll start taking the geoengineering people seriously when they can accurately predict the weather one month from now.

ants_a 7y ago
Predicting weather and predicting climate are almost completely different things. It's about predicting where a single state space trajectory of a chaotic system ends up versus predicting bounds and average positions for an ensemble of trajectories. The first is impossible, the second is routinely done. Think of a double pendulum, one can't predict where it is in an hour, but can predict reasonably accurately how high it can still go due to the amount of kinetic and potential energy it is going to have.

chillacy 7y ago

Absolutely, we've already been geo-engineering for the past 150 years by burning fossil fuels. The tricky part will be how to deal with different governments... what if a project to increase rainfall in the Gobi desert decreases rainfall in California?