Eleanor Babcock
11/13/15
Geoengineering our Climate

This week we were visited again by Troy Knight a professor from the Environmental Studies department to discuss the topic of geoengineering our climate. In a broad sense geoengineering is the fighting of the symptoms versus seeking a cure. In terms of our climate, this means a technological fix to reduce excess carbon in our atmosphere. This has been discussed to be accomplished through solar radiation management or carbon dioxide removal.

Troy discussed with us how some of these scientific solutions could be accomplished. One way is through land sinks, so using our soils and plants to uptake and store this excess carbon . This could be done by planting more trees or small forests to intake and store carbon through the biological process of photosynthesis. Another land sink is biochar. Biochar is the addition of carbon into the soil. When coal is burned under low oxygen conditions, the carbon remains can be taken and spread over soils for plants to thrive off of. This stores the carbon in the soil and also provides nutrients for plants.  Another scientific solution is through ocean sinks. This can be done through a biological pump, meaning we can take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the oceans. Oceans have a circulation pattern where a percentage of nutrients and elements from the oceans surface leak into the lower layers of the ocean and are stored for a long time. If this is done with carbon we would not have to worry about excess carbon in the atmosphere. This ocean sink would mimic an old natural process.

These two scientific solutions are both reflective of natural biological processes and they both are ways of capturing and storing carbon among our plant. The other technological fix we have the potential to accomplish in terms of geoengineering the climate is through solar radiation management. Our planet, as explained by Troy, takes in solar energy but releases more radiation because of our planter greenhouse effect. Carbon and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enhance the greenhouse effect giving out plant a net warming effect. Scientists have debated reducing the net solar radiation entering our planet through placing solar reflectors in space to minimize solar income. They have also debated increasing our surface albedo (reflectivity) so that less solar radiation is trapped in our atmosphere.





All of these technological solutions to reducing our anthropological impact on earths climate lead me to wonder why we have resorted to such extreme scientific measures to mitigate climate change. We have resorted to solving our problem by trying to lessen the effects of the symptoms of climate change instead of finding a cure to our problem.

I believe that this resort to technological solutions comes from the communication divide between politicians and scientists. Climate denial, lack of responsiveness and action, and policy implementation speed are all faults on the political spectrum. Making decisions and compromising on a national scale is difficult, but I believe that scientists, as they are first hand observing climate change through findings and data, are becoming anxious for the future of our planet. Their knowledge and understanding of the climate system is heightened because of their research and studies. This impatience has led scientists to take matters into their own hands  and discuss these technological solutions to climate change. In essence, the lack of political action is forcing scientists to do what they do best and manifest solutions so our humans and our climate can remain in harmony.