The
National Research Council has just issued a report that advocates increased
research into 'climate engineering', that is, trying to retard global warming through
human manipulation of atmospheric processes (1).
The NRC report on climate
engineering is both depressing and upsetting. It is depressing because it
essentially admits that we are totally failing in our attempts to prevent
climate change through reductions in emissions. It is upsetting because it
reflects incredible hubris. Do the originators of the report really think that
we can meddle with global atmospheric patterns without huge unintended
consequences? Haven’t we learned anything about the unpredictability of
technology?
To my mind research funds
would be far better spent investigating novel ways to restrain the tidal wave
of global population growth. That would certainly impact climate change. The
much-vaunted ‘demographic transition’ seems to be sputtering as the UN revises
its global population projections ever upward.
(1)
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/705.full
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