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OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
Wed Jan 11, 2017, 06:15 PM Jan 2017

Geoengineering Gets Green Light from Federal Scientists

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603349/geoengineering-gets-green-light-from-federal-scientists/
[font face=Serif][font size=5]Geoengineering Gets Green Light from Federal Scientists[/font]

[font size=4]For the first time, funding from the U.S. government may be spent on man-made approaches to ease climate change.[/font]

by Jamie Condliffe | January 11, 2017

[font size=3]Scientific advisors to the U.S. government have for the first time urged Congress to fund federal geoengineering research to battle climate change.

The shift in stance appears in an updated roadmap for federal funding of climate research that was published earlier this week by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The report notes that the research could provide “insight into the science needed to understand potential pathways for climate intervention or geoengineering and the possible consequences of any such measures, both intended and unintended.”

Two main geoengineering approaches for fighting climate change exist. One is sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to reduce its warming effects, the other increasing how much sunlight the Earth reflects. The new roadmap proposes that both approaches should be investigated.

The idea of using man-made techniques to ease the effects of climate change is not a new one—but while popular among many scientists, it has proven controversial. Skeptics have warned that testing geoengineering approaches at scale is risky, because no one understands what their effects might be.

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Geoengineering Gets Green Light from Federal Scientists (Original Post) OKIsItJustMe Jan 2017 OP
The path to hell is paved with good intentions. nt NickB79 Jan 2017 #1
The road to Hell is paved with inaction OKIsItJustMe Jan 2017 #2

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
2. The road to Hell is paved with inaction
Thu Jan 12, 2017, 12:54 AM
Jan 2017

Had we pursued Jimmy Carter’s energy policies, including R&D of solar, wind, geothermal and other technologies, we might be in much better shape today. Instead, we have to hope we can make up for lost time.

The “smart money” says we cannot.

OK, so… shall we wait until we are desperate before researching these technologies? Because it is virtually certain that we will employ them sooner or later.

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