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Cloudworld - geoengineering consultancy

Cloudworld's John Nissen has put forward a proposal for the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth conference

Title: Necessary steps to save the planet

The accord reached by certain nations at Copenhagen refers almost entirely to emissions reductions. There was a common understanding that emissions reductions alone can save the planet for the enjoyment by future generations. But this is a false hope, promoted by governments and the scientists who work for them. The reality is that there is an excess of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere which will continue to cause warming well into the next century, even if we could halt emissions overnight! CO2 is also causing ocean acidification, and 20% of corals are already dying. We do not know how much further the acidification can go - but the marine food chain will be affected. (20% of world depend on fish for protein.)

The warming effect of this CO2 is amplified in the polar regions and is causing the Arctic to warm at least twice as fast as the global average. The maintenance of the polar ice caps is essential for keeping the whole planet from overheating. The Arctic sea ice is itself part of a thermostatic control mechanism that has operated for over two million years. If this mechanism brakes, and Arctic warming continues unabated, then inevitably the potent greenhouse gas, methane, will be released from permafrost in vast quantities and heat the whole planet catastrophically. Also much of the Greenland ice sheet will inevitably slide into the sea, causing a sea level rise of up to 6 metres.

There are three essential steps to rescue the situation:

emissions reduction more rapidly than currently committed;
active CO2 removal from the atmosphere;
cooling of the Arctic sufficient to save the Arctic sea ice.

The active carbon dioxide removal (CDR) must quickly reach a rate that surpasses the CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. We propose a carbon levy, preferable at the point of fossil fuel extraction (mine or well head), which pays to remove the CO2 and effectively put it back in the ground. A promising technology is "biochar" (biomass to charcoal), which can be used by farmers, using the charcoal to improve their soil.

For cooling the Arctic, we propose a "solar radiation management" (SRM) technique, to mimic the cooling effect of volcanoes when they produce a reflecting aerosol haze in the stratosphere.

We present a challenge to the rich nations: to carry out these three essential steps to save the planet for the sake of future generations. The current Copenhagen course is suicidal.