Green Options » plankton

Emergency Climate Control: Geoengineering Risks

Michael Ricciardi — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:01:25 +0000

With the news that climate change is occurring at a faster rate than climate models have predicted, geoengineering solutions have been brought to the fore and are being taken more seriously. The main focus of these emergency geoengineering strategies is a reduction in “shortwave” radiation entering the Earth’s atmosphere via the solar wind.

The short-term goal here is an overall reduction in global atmospheric temperatures to slow, or even reverse, warming trends. These solutions include increasing the amount of reflective particles surrounding the Earth by placing reflective particles (”mirrors”) outside the atmosphere. Such a solution may be justified to quickly curtail an emergent crisis–such as the rapid disintegration of the polar icecaps. Another strategy is to blanket the upper atmosphere with sulfur particles to block shortwave energy from reaching the Earth’s surface, thus producing a pronounced cooling effect (of variable duration).

However, in a recently published paper, Climate Engineering Responses to Climate Emergencies by Blackstock et al, this and other controversial strategies are analyzed in terms of feasibility, short-term impact, and also, the potential risks and dangers. The authors are also calling for a study phase. The major criticism in the paper is that current geoengineering strategies focus on a reduction of temperature without due consideration of the impact on precipitation, which also drives climate change. The cooler the surface temperature, in general, the less overall precipitation ( due to the fact that there is less energy for evaporation). Focusing only on temperature reduction, via incoming solar radiation, could backfire, leading to a shift in global hydrology cycles and, possibly, drought. Also, sulfur in the atmosphere combines with water to form sulfuric acid–the primary source of “acid rain”–a problem dramatically reduced since the passage of the Clean Air act.

Could the Melting of the Arctic be a Good Thing for Planet Earth?

Joshua S Hill — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:47:39 +0000

By now, we’ve been well taught to view the steady decrease of Arctic ice as a bad thing; and for good reason, it is. But by now, I also hope that I have been able to teach you that, when dealing with the climate, nothing is simple. If that lesson has managed to make it through, then this latest piece of “good” news is going to be very interesting.

According to two separate research groups, new evidence supports the possibility that the disappearing Arctic ice is a good thing for the planet.

Fertilizing The Ocean – Great Idea or Eco Disaster?

mcmilker — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:39:26 +0000

Can selling carbon credits to finance “ocean fertilization” solve global warming?

Greenpeace calls it “irresponsible” but, a variety of companies including, Climos, a San Francisco start-up, have raised a enough venture capital to give it a try. By drizzling an iron slurry across a stretch of ocean the company will leave a bloom of phytoplankton in its wake and hopefully take a small step toward solving global warming.

Science Finds ‘Butterfly Effect’ on Fisheries

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:33:58 +0000

Researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography believe they may have found the answer to the mystifying collapse of Pacific sardine fisheries in the middle of the last century: a shift in wind patterns that drastically reduced the upwelling of plankton, the fish’s primary food source. The discovery has implications for future climate change as well.

Image courtesy of Tewy via Wikimedia Commons.