Geoengineering

Analysis and Comment (10)

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Measurements in the skies over Hawaii show we’ve reached a carbon dioxide milestone, but geo-engineering won’t get us off the hook. J.S. Nawati

Carbon dioxide hits a new high, but geo-engineering won’t help

By Steve Sherwood

This week, carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere finally crossed the 400 parts-per-million mark. The last time that happened was 3-5 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch, several million…
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Altering the ocean or atmosphere is expensive, but not out of reach for countries or rich individuals. What if they decide to go ahead? Martin Thum

Anyone can geoengineer: should we try to stop them?

By David Hodgkinson, University of Western Australia

International climate change negotiations have not been successful. As Richard SJ Tol stated at the beginning of the 2012 Doha talks, “[h]aving flogged, ever harder for 18 years, the dead horse of legally…
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The effects of climate change are becoming more apparent – who will take responsibility for the delay in action? AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

Humanity’s scorched Earth program – where to now?

By Andrew Glikson

The intensity and frequency of bush fires and firestorms around the globe, including recently in Australia, is a growing worry. Under conditions where mean land temperatures have increased by ~1.5 degrees…
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“Rogue geo-engineering” is an overstatement for what happened off British Columbia. Kirsty Pang

Mixing iron into the north Pacific stirs geo-engineering controversy

By Peter Strutton, University of Tasmania

A British Columbian fishing community has drawn almost universal condemnation after dumping 100 tonnes of iron rich dust into the ocean to stimulate a plankton bloom, in an effort to restore salmon numbers…
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Brightening and increasing a cloud’s longevity would help reduce the effects of global warming. karindalziel/Flickr

Whiter than white: could brightening clouds reduce symptoms of climate change?

By Kirsty Kuo, University of Cambridge

Marine cloud brightening: it’s a concept that has been floated in climate engineering discussions for some time. But what are the moral implications of this geoengineering technology, and how likely is…
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Coal’s toll? A Newcastle church cupola damaged in the 1989 earthquake serves as a memorial for the 13 people killed. Flickr/OZinOH

Earthquakes and mining – how humans create seismic activity

By Christian Klose, Northwest Research Associates

This week’s 5.3 magnitude earthquake that struck near Moe in Victoria’s brown-coal mining region of the La Trobe Valley brings to mind the 5.6 magnitude quake of 1989 in another coal-mining heartland…
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The SPICE balloon has been grounded. SPICE Project

Geoengineering trial cancelled: more regulation needed

By Kirsty Kuo, University of Cambridge

Inventors have long been protecting their ideas by filing patent applications on new technologies. But is it appropriate for researchers or companies to own the intellectual property rights to climate…
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Geo-engineering should be a last resort; there are better steps we can take first. Truthout.org

Talking about geo-engineering may prevent us needing it

By David Karoly, University of Melbourne

A lack of global action to combat climate change is forcing scientists to explore measures that might have been considered unethical a decade ago. With carbon dioxide emissions tracking at the high end…
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A blimp-like balloon can be used to pump particles into the upper atmosphere.

Geo-engineering: why research something we never want to use?

By Kirsty Kuo, University of Cambridge

What if the world left it too long to take action on global climate change? Is there a way we could somehow cool the planet before an environmental crisis occurs? Geo-engineering is a potential course…

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