WASHINGTON (AP) – The president’s new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth’s air.
John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun’s rays. Holdren said such an experimental measure would only be used as a last resort. Holdren outlined several “tipping points” involving global warming that could be fast approaching. Once such milestones are reached, such as complete loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic, it increases chances of “really intolerable consequences,” he said.
Twice in a half-hour interview, Holdren compared global warming to being “in a car with bad brakes driving toward a cliff in the fog.”
At first, Holdren characterized the potential need to technologically tinker with the climate as just his personal view. However, he went on to say he has raised it in administration discussions.
Holdren, a 65-year-old physicist, is far from alone in taking geoengineering more seriously. The National Academy of Science is making climate tinkering the subject of its first workshop in its new multidiscipline climate challenges program. The British parliament has also discussed the idea.
The American Meteorological Society is crafting a policy statement on geoengineering that says “it is prudent to consider geoengineering’s potential, to understand its limits and to avoid rash deployment.” Another geoengineering option he mentioned was the use of so-called artificial trees to suck carbon dioxide—the chief human-caused greenhouse gas—out of the air and store it. At first that seemed prohibitively expensive, but a re-examination of the approach shows it might be less costly, he said.
Great. So who creates the best air pollution on the planet? Can we outsource this job to China?
The irony is killing me!
Obama’s administration is gung-ho to tax us and destroy our economy over man made global warming (which is complete bullshit btw), and yet his administration actually may severely pollute the atmosphere for real.
Unbelievable.
Echo chamber indeed.
Please tell me this is a latent April Fools story or an Onion report?
DON’T SCREW WITH MOTHER NATURE!
Set fire to the Rainforest, or all the coal fields in the US. or both!
Drop an HBomb down a volcano.
Hey! I’m just trying to help here!
@#3 Actually, google-up global dimming. Existing and well studied phenomenon. Likely the reason why humans are NOT responsible for global warming (we similarly raise CO2 levels and dim the Solar input to the planet from the same pollution sources, balancing in the end).
Gee, I can not imagine any unintended consequences.
BTW: bobbo, Mr Fusion, I am being sarcastic.
This had been done before, when Mr Burns decided to block out the sun to generate more business for his nuclear power plant.
They’ll screw it up, and bring on the next ice age. Just watch.
#7. Inspired by a Simpson’s episode…I love it!
Strange things happen, when a neglected and ignored physicist suddenly becomes the center of attention. Someone, slip him a valium.
And these are the same morons who on the other side of their mouth say pollution is causing global warming.
Same topic posted 2 articles below this on the front page.
Oh great, another government operation to really F things up. I would like for them to get their story straight or do they just change their plans to fit the charts to prove whatever just to obtain control to a) make money and b) run the nanny state.
I thought this whole global warming ‘thing’ was caused by pollution…too much exhaust fumes, smoke pollution, and other gases were causing warming.
Yet, I remember in the early 1990s that too much pollution in the air was causing global cooling and that the Earth might be headed for an ice age.
Ya know the reason I don’t worry about this nonsense us that by the time we actually figure this out or it actually starts effecting the enviornment the super-caldera (that’s 10K years overdue to go off) at Yellowstone park will go off and solve the problem of pollution and global warming for us.
Had the environmentalist nuts not cried wolf at every corner and focused on issues with facts we might not have an island made of trash in the pacific.
Continue to mess with the Earth and the next thing you know, some alien is gonna come down and unleash a bunch of micro robot bugs to clean up the parasites (people).
I have seen this before!
Shoot! Now the freak parade is starting! After 8 years of Bush, can we handle the Haight-Ashbury Group???
I’m confused…So we put on carbon scrubbers, and take off pollution filters!?!
Suppose for $10 billion, you could eliminate the threat of global warming with this solution. Would you do it? You could then cut back on global warming research and save more than $10B.
There are multiple parts to ‘pollution’.
Products of combustion that may be ‘green house’ gases like CO, CO2, H2O that don’t cause much damage since they are already found in the atmosphere
Products of combustion that mix and cause damage, usually Nitrogen and Sulfur Oxides that cause acid rain since they are not typically ‘found in nature’
The third are particulates and ozone that play a large portion in ‘ground level’ pollution and smog.
Particulate has been the most regulated for the longest since it caused ‘killing smogs’ when coal (or saw dust on the West Coast) were burned.
High level particulates, or water vapor (clouds) are thought to block more solar energy
Wait two more years please. That way they will not kill off my generation.
#19 Nitrogen not found naturally, really? It only makes up about 80% of the fracking atmosphere. Did we do all that?
nothing here
“At first, Holdren characterized the potential need to technologically tinker with the climate as just his personal view. However, he went on to say he has raised it in administration discussions.”
Just an admission that he has talked about it with some one in the administration. The story does not say they liked the idea of even told the President about it.
Sorry guys not evidence of any thing other that the diversity of ideas that might get presented to the new Decider.
There was a NOVA episode about global dimming.
http://pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun/
It seems we are all ready doing this.
[Please drop the WWW from URLs as WordPress doesn’t display it properly… plus it’s unnecessary. – ed.]
#21- I think he is referring to nitrogen oxides, often called NOx, which are produced from combustion. NOx is a component of SMOG.
#21 Maybe try to READ what I wrote “Nitrogen AND Sulfur Oxides” = Nitrogen OXIDES and Sulfur Oxides…not so exactly so common unless a volcano pops off…and they generally form into Nitric AND Sulfuric acid…hence ‘Acid Rain’.
Learn to read guy.
Ed,
Good story on NRO about how the Democrats got to 60 votes in senate and made the republican party (of no) irrelevant until 2010(and beyond).
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTg5M2RjZjZkNDk5NWFhOGRlODMzMGMwOTg3YWViY2U=
Older ice is denser? This means it raises the sea level vs less dense ice.
#27
Arctic ice has no effect on sea level. It is the one mile thick antarctica ice that is stored above sea level that is the problem.
Nuclear Winter, it’s the only cure.
China has already been using similar technology to “seed” rain clouds to address some of their recent drought problems.