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Rundown
In this episode, Mexie explores what geoengineering can (and can’t) provide in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation. She outlines various options in the two main geoengineering categories: Carbon Dioxide Removal (removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) and Solar Radiation Management (reducing the amount of solar radiation that hits the earth’s surface). The options in the first category are safer than the options in the latter, however each comes with serious risk. Geoengineering has been gaining traction with the release of the latest IPCC report, but could a geoengineered world be even more dystopian than a 4-6C temperature increase?
Sources and Links
- Aaron Byrd and Sofia Perpetua, How it Happens – Carbon Capture: https://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000002990028/how-it-happens-carbon-capture.html
- Jan Christoph Minx and Gregory Nemet, The Inconvenient Truth About Carbon Capture: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/05/31/carbon-capture/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9ab0e07ee02d
- James Temple, The Carbon Capture Era May Finally Be Starting: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610296/the-carbon-capture-era-may-finally-be-starting/
- Climate Vision, The Negatives of Carbon Capture and Storage: http://climatevision.co.uk/the-negatives-of-carbon-capture-and-storage
- Umair Irfan, Will Carbon Capture and Storage Ever Work?: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-carbon-capture-and-storage-ever-work/
- Jonathan Watts, Geoengineering May be Used to Combat Global Warming, Experts Say: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/geoengineering-global-warming-ipcc
- Fiona Harvey, Reflecting the Sun’s Rays Would Cause Crops to Fail, Scientists Warn: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/08/reflecting-suns-rays-would-cause-crops-to-fail-scientists-warn
- Peter Beaumont, Scientists Suggest a Giant Sunshade in the Sky Could Solve Global Warming: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/05/scientists-suggest-giant-sunshade-in-sky-could-solve-global-warming
- Rima Sabina Aouf, Five Geoengineering Solutions Proposed to Fight Climate Change: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/10/18/five-geoengineering-solutions-climate-change-un-ipcc-technology
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9 thoughts on “27. Will Geoengineering Save Us?”
in short we are fucked
Not if we get out and fill the streets!! (Or, at least we have to try)
i doubt we will ever get the needed amount of ppl until its to late
Well, gonna fight til the bitter end, anyway!
Thank you for this episode. Some time ago i read a book about this topic: “Earthmasters: The Dawn of the Age of Climate Engineering” by Clive Hamilton. He discusses these techniques in detail.
I fear we are heading for hell on Earth in our lifetimes. Fire and brimstone!
Oh interesting, haven’t read Earthmasters. Will check it out! And it is a scary time, for sure…
I see that the whole “extracting and storing CO2” thing might not be the best thing, but what exactly stops us to put all the carbon back into the existing cycle, so increasing the living biomass (with focus on plants)? Your point about having not enough time to plant enough trees is true, but we can still capture the CO2 from the atmosphere with artificial means (f.e. there is a company called “clime works” which built a closed cycle machine which only needs water and energy input to filter the CO2 from the atmosphere) and “put it back into the plants” through greenhouse farming or something similar, which will in the end increase the amount of fertible soil which again helps us in reclaiming the deserts. Sea levels are rising which means we have to bring that water which is too much back into the existing water cycles or create new ones (ok, metereology is definitely a complicated thing and we can’t even predict the weather accurately…but I don’t think it is impossible to find a new stable point, with increased levels of water, carbon and biomass).
Obviously these are options that are very unlikely to be tackled under capitalism…but in a global socialist system, I don’t see anything speaking against it.
Hopefully I got my points across – but it doesn’t really matter since we don’t have the means to achieve it fast enough in capitalism and going vegan is definitely a thing that is necessary as well (I’m still not there…maybe around 6 out of 7 days so far, but I keep on trying).
Hmm interesting, I haven’t seen much talk of feasibly putting the CO2 back into the cycle through greenhouse farming. I’ll check out Climate Works. Certainly yes, that would be ideal if practicable, and clearly would likely only be practicable post-capitalism. That’s great on the vegan transition too!! 🙂 Congrats