Geo-engineering??

Question

What can you tell me about this? (The INTENTIONAL altering of Earth's atmosphere or other parts of the biosphere to suit human requirements, including potentially to mitigate global warming.)

Here are some links to clue you in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_engineering

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1720049_1720050_1721653,00.html

Would you trust the US military to tinker with the planet? (any more than they already do). [Millitary scientists have the resources to conduct this type of secret project, which universities or other publicly accountable bodies lack.]

This is not paranoid rambling: there really are scientists toying with these ideas.

"We should treat these ideas like any other research and get into the mind-set of taking them seriously," said Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. (New York Times, 27th June 2006.)

Answer 1

Aside from destroying economic output that is the true danger of the AGW fanatics.

The idea that they would try to change our environment when they don't even truly understand it in the first place, these are very dangerous individuals.

All these fanatics frankly scare the h**l out of me.

Answer 2

The question you should ask first is, are we ACCIDENTALLY modifying Earth's atmosphere or biosphere?

I think that's a big "yes".

Second question:  Should we take seriously the job of knowing what effects we're having?

Another big "yes".

Last question:  Should anyone try to do something about unwelcome changes, and who gets to make the decision including the definition of "unwelcome"?

That's where it gets interesting, because it just went from a scientific question to a political question.

The world has had "climate modification" from nature itself, at least temporarily.  The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo didn't just settle the fate of some military bases in the Phillipines, it threw enough particulates into the stratosphere to cool the globe measurably for about 2 years.  If you look at the Keeling curve, atmospheric CO2 concentrations steadied out over that period too.

Should human agencies (military or not) undertake to do the same things that nature has already done?  I can't answer that with a straight yes/no, but the prospect doesn't scare me either.

Answer 3

The military had nothing to do with the levee's in New Orleans  the government allocated plenty of funds it was misused by the state and local governments

Answer 4

I wouldn't trust any hairless ape to tinker with the planet.  It is by playing God and believing that we have Dominion over the Earth that we ended up in the mess we are in today.

This YouTube clip from the movie Instinct says it very well.

Answer 5

OK, the idea of the US military (or any one group) starting geoengineering is really scary to me. I'm afraid it would be fighting the war against nature like the US did in Vietnam.

I have serious concerns:

- that we don't understand the ecological interrelationships well enough to make major changes w/o risking unintended and dangerous consequences

- and geoengineering is trying to limit or reverse effects but what about the underlying causes?

- and finally, isn't it better to live healthy than use extreme cures? So isn't it better to think in terms of changing our economic and social behaviour so we can have a future that is liveable and that we may actually live Much Better in?

Saying that, I am not totally against any geoengineering attempts for global warming. Tree farming and carbon capture and canal systems and cloud seeding may be very useful. I think we need a keep it simple and first do no harm principle.

Answer 6

I would NEVER trust our military to 'tinker' with the planet.  They have made so many mistakes already (some of them due to 'lack of proper government funding--like the dams in New Orleans).

First and foremost, what makes the US so God-like that we have the right to tinker with the planet on a large scale on our own?  It takes international cooperation.