— by Daniel Gottlieb —
The other night, in Eastsound, a UW academic stated there has been no program to enhance the reflectivity of the atmosphere through the injection of particulate matter and/or aerosols into the atmosphere for albedo modification–a geo-engineering strategy designed to mitigate the affect of anthropogenic forcing of the radiative balance (global warming).
Further, the UW academic stated that any notion of it (albedo modification) was foolish. [Attached below] is the [power point presentation] by the Chief Scientist of the Atmospheric Sciences Program–for examination by the citizens of Orcas Island. So that islanders can make their own determination. I cannot address the question of why the speaker did not know about the Atmospheric Sciences Program. Some of the best early work on aerosols and particulates (Watson) came out of the UW.
The UW academic also stated anthropogenic forcing of the radiative balance (global warming) was an event of a far distant future–fifty plus years in the future. The climate crisis is now. It requires attention, intelligence, awareness, and political will. Feel good presentations that hide the facts are pointless. The federal government–to their credit–has been working on addressing anthropogenic forcing of the radiative balance for a while. Albedo modification is one of those programs.
We here in San Juan County must also take steps to deal with our changing environment. A county wide resilience program to deal with the affect of anthropogenic forcing of the radiative balance coordinated with a similar process at the state level begins that process of taking important steps to ensure the safety and security of San Juan County residents. In my opinion, these processes could not happen soon enough.
For the record, I believe albedo modification, a form of geo-engineering, is a poor approach to the climate crisis.
Attachment Schwartz Climate Change
Daniel…I’m having trouble bridging between your posting and your attachment…can you elaborate on the implications your attachment has regarding “chemtrails”?
Check This Out
https://www.postcarbon.org/press/schwartz-on-epa-climate-change-study/
Thanks Daniel, but your thesis on how “Climate Crisis is Now,” supported by a multi-colored pdf, largely in 24-point type, featuring photos of the interior of a research plane, and some government guys with grants, and lots of buzzwords-du-jour, raise suspicion. And, amid all the cries for immediacy, most of the data you cite is pre-2006!?
If anything, I’d counter-argue/implore that we eschew the “crisis” mode, in favor of contextual, critical analysis, eschewing political agendae and slick vocabulary? Do you know Lori, btw?
While I’m not sure why you posted an old thesis that you yourself say you do not agree with …
The climate crisis is real and it is a crisis. There is only one fix and it is sociological not technical – we have to stop growing and consuming at our current rate. Growth is what a cancer is all about. And we are currently the cancer consuming the earth. Use less, re-use, re-cycle: a mantra now decades old and more relevant every day.
Hi,
The Atmospheric Sciences Program was not a theory, but an event. Like the climate crisis one can deny it, but that does not change the fact of its existence.
Moving forward, developing a resiliency plan for San Juan County is in our best interests. I urge you to support a resiliency plan for the country and the state.
Dan
I also thought the Cliff Mass talk was disappointing and strange. “Go ahead and sign the carbon tax initiative, but climate change isn’t really a serious problem for us yet, so calm down, all you crazy islanders.” What?!
I thought this report, which ran the next morning on Democracy Now! covered the same topic with a much more honest, revealing perspective: https://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/21/global_warming_worsens_california_drought_as
Personally, I don’t put a lot of faith in the state or even the county. Any climate resilience plan worth its weight is going to come from islanders working together to build programs and solutions that work for each of us in our island communities. In an ideal world, the county, state, and federal governments would be there to support those community-based plans rather than dictate them.
We can and are starting now. More on this topic soon — I have several Democracy Futures columns in the works. Stay tuned!
Lori, I too find Cliff better at weather than the more massive longterm mega-trends upon us. He soft pedals climate change trends and Northwest ocean impacts.
For those interested in a good summary of projected climate impact in our region, see the information here: https://cses.washington.edu/cig/pnwc/ci.shtml
Northwest energy companies, farmers, businesses, water managers, natural resource managers and anyone that needs to plan and prepare for the unfolding impact uses these tools to deepen the understanding. Adapting will take time. carpe diem!
Thank you for the article and the comments. I chose not to attend this talk, for reasons that some of the commenters addressed. As to the “don’t panic” idea, I think time is fast running out – it’s not wise to encourages a false complacency. The sky IS falling. Even if we are not yet running to escape its crush, it’s a good idea to be walking toward the exits in the stadium. We should have started walking long ago, and figuring out how to keep the sky up there.
Denial OR panic – two sides of the same coin – don’t give us the right to continue to NOT act – we’ve wasted many decades waiting for our trajectory to “as bad as it can be.” This refusal to face hard truths and act, seems to me the definition of insanity.
When will we face the hard truths of things like methane bursts heating our oceans much more quickly than anyone anticipated; especially in the Arctic waters? We see the effects on the jet stream pattern, in turn, bringing more extreme weather and not only perpetuating the cycle, but ramping it up exponentially. Sea level is rising much sooner and higher than anticipated, as the polar ice melts, and will continue to melt at a frenzied rate. Growing methane bursts – both in size and intensity – will add, are adding to the crisis – especially in the Northern hemisphere. Why try to sugar-coat it? Better to face the fears head-on now and make some compassionate and intelligent steps. Admit that the 6th mass extinction is human-caused.
I don’t think some kind of hand-slap to polluters in the form of another cap and trade or “tax” (with endless loopholes) on fossil fuel polluters, or shooting chemicals into the sky to cool the planet, is going to fix this. Not now in the 11th hour. It’s up to us – not our bought- and-pai- for-by-the-fossil-fuel- polluting-industry politicians; although we can turn up the heat on them. Why wait until the clock strikes 12 to run around the barnyard in a panic?
I look forward to hearing other viewpoints on the climate changes; views that don’t put them on the back burner or mislead us into thinking we can go the same old non-workable ways; even if time IS up.