An Act of Mad Desperation!
2016Christine Frank 2016-10Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 6 →
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A ing, while avoiding a definitive halt to fossil-fuel s a last-ditch effort to curb runaway global warm combustion, scientists, governments, entrepreneurs, and even right-wing think tanks are advocating vari ous highly dangerous technologies to block solar ra diation or draw down atmospheric carbon to cool the planet. Touted as Plan B, these risky methods come under the label of either Solar Radiation Management (SRM) or Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).
SRM techniques under consideration include plac ing space-based solar deflectors in orbit, spewing sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere, and seeding clouds to increase their brightness. CDR techniques include Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) of CO2 from power-plant flue gases, the iron fertilization of the oceans to stimulate phytoplankton blooms, and burning acres of trees for biochar burial in soils.
For any of these ruinously expensive, energy-inten sive techno-fixes to work, they must be applied on a planetary-wide mega-scale, at great risk to Earth’s natural systems and human societies. Their imple mentation could result in an array of disastrous un intended consequences due to reckless human inter ference.
A case in point would be the initial Grand Experi ment of employing fossil fuels to power the Industrial Revolution, which got us into this mess in the first place. Over the two-and-a-half centuries of hydrocar bon burning and steadily rising carbon dioxide emis sions, the growing evidence that greenhouse gases were warming the planet was either ignored, denied, or deliberately suppressed by those who profited from the coal, gas, and oil industries.
With that in mind, any child worried about his or her future could easily grasp the folly of using Mother Earth as a laboratory for geoengineering experiments, yet scientists as well as some so-called environmen talists, who both should know better, are ready to push the panic button in order to “buy time.”
To buy time for whom, we may ask? It is clear that quick-fixing the climate will allow the capitalist class to conduct business as usual by never having to give up fossil fuels. That is why Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Til lerson declared back in 2007 that adapting to extreme weather and rising sea levels is an “engineering prob 6 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 2016 lem” that has “engineering solutions.”
That’s right, Rex, with the help of Yankee ingenuity and American know-how, we can engineer our way out of ecological collapse so you and your ilk will be free to pillage, plunder, and pollute for profit until the natural world descends into chaos. There may be a Plan B, but there is no Planet B! A growing number of climate crisis activists are realizing that and demand ing a ban on geoengineering experiments, funding, and implementation.
We now know from paleoclimatic evidence that dramatic changes on a planetary scale are difficult to reverse and can lead to irreparable harm, even mass extinctions. Earth’s climate system is a complexity of natural variables and feedback loops. All of the plan et’s matrices—atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, and lithosphere—interact in non-linear and subtle ways to create a self-regulatory whole. Therefore, a change in the solar flux could cause an imbalance in the global heat budget and alter atmo spheric circulation, precipitation patterns, and ocean currents to the detriment of life in the affected re gions. Needless to say, the economic costs of launch ing an array of sun shields or mirrors into orbit would be astronomical.
The release of sulfate aerosols mixed with polluting jet aircraft exhaust into the stratosphere would also have detrimental side effects. Historically, tropical volcanic eruptions that release sulfur particles can cause warmer winters over land masses in the North ern Hemisphere, whereas eruptions at high latitudes weaken the Asian and African monsoons, causing droughts. Adding aerosols to the stratosphere could exacerbate ozone depletion by providing more sur faces on which harmful chemical reactions take place. Also, blocking sunlight would mean less for renewable solar power. Acid rain that kills forests and aquatic life could be another ill effect.
A flotilla of ships spraying seawater into the air in or der to increase Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) and brighten marine stratocumulus clouds may not be the “Silver Lining” that is promised. It could backfire with a counterproductive reduction in cloud cover because of all the industrial pollutants present over the ocean adding to the mix.
For years, carbon capture and sequestration have been used to foster the myth of Clean Coal. With a