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SUMMARY:Geoengineering the Climate: Science\, Governance &amp\; Uncertaint
 y: the Royal Society study - John Shepherd (Southampton)
DTSTART:20100218T140500Z
DTEND:20100218T151500Z
UID:TALK23012@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Doris Allen
DESCRIPTION:The climate change we are experiencing now is caused by an inc
 rease in greenhouse gases due to human activities\, including burning foss
 il fuels\, agriculture and deforestation. There is now widespread belief t
 hat a global warming of greater than 2oC above pre-industrial levels would
  be dangerous and should therefore be avoided. However\, despite growing c
 oncerns over climate change\, global CO2 emissions have continued to climb
 . This has led some to suggest more radical “Geoengineering” alternati
 ves to conventional mitigation via reductions in CO2 emissions.\n\nGeoengi
 neering is deliberate intervention in the climate system to counteract man
 -made global warming. There are two main classes of geoengineering\; direc
 t carbon dioxide removal\, and solar radiation management\, which aims to 
 cool the planet by reflecting more sunlight out to space. This talk will s
 ummarise the findings of a recent review of Geoengineering carried-out by 
 the UK Royal Society (see http://royalsociety.org/document.asp?tip=1&id=87
 70 )\, discussing the climate effects\, costs\, risks\, and research and g
 overnance needs for each approach.\n\nKey findings include\n\n• Geoengin
 eering is not a magic bullet and not an alternative to emissions reduction
 s.\n\n• Cutting global greenhouse gas emissions must remain our highest 
 priority –\n\n   o But this is proving to be difficult\, and Geoengineer
 ing may be useful to support it\n\n• Geoengineering is very likely to be
  technically possible\n\n   o However\, there are major uncertainties and 
 potential risks concerning effectiveness\, costs and social & environmenta
 l impacts\n\n• Much more research is needed\, as well public engagement 
 and a system of regulation (for both deployment and for possible large-sca
 le field tests)
LOCATION:MR13\, CMS
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