Science And Technology 2022 Geoengineering

What percent of our planet's surface is occupied by the ocean?

71%

What percent of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are made up of CO2?

75%

Biochar

A form of charcoal that is created by burning biomass with little access to Oxygen in a process known as pyrolisation. It is able to sequester (store) a large amount of Carbon from the biomass, which would normally be released as greenhouse gasses if the biomass was simply burnt. Is able to improve water quality, soil fertility, agricultural production, making them incredibly useful!

What is the geoengineering strategy for the ocean mirror?

A less well-known solution, this involves using sea vessels to create tiny microbubbles at the ocean's surface. This sea foam would then reflect sunlight. Though there are major advantages to this, such as the large amount of the Earth's surface covered in water, the main disadvantage is the economic cost in constantly using boats and other sea vessels to create these microbubbles and have them remain there, with large amounts of energy being required.

Marine Cloud Brightening

A process by which the albedo of clouds is increased by spraying salt water particles into low lying clouds above oceans, increasing their reflectivity. This solar-geoengineering strategy was first proposed by John Latham in 1990.

What are the 6 geoengineering strategies?

Aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening, space sunshades, cloud thinning, ocean mirror, high-albedo crops and buildings

What is evidence that injecting aerosols into the stratosphere is effective?

After the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991, there was a global cooling of about half a degree for two or three years afterward

What does CDR aim for?

Aims to address the primary driver of climate change by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and ensuring its long-term storage. If deployed at a large-scale, CDR could slow the rate of global warming and help prevent ocean acidification.

Stratospheric Aerosols

Are a collection of particles suspended in the stratosphere. When talking about Stratospheric Aerosols, the most common one is Sulphuric Acid. One proposed use of this is to inject high amounts of them into the atmosphere, reflecting the Sun's rays and decreasing the amount of energy absorbed by the Earth.

What is Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage?

Burning biomass for energy generation and capturing and long-term storage of the resulting CO2.

What is Direct air capture and storage?

Capturing CO2 directly from ambient air by a chemical engineering process, followed by long-term storage or use.

What does CDR stand for?

Carbon Dioxide Removal, also known as negative emissions

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon Dioxide is incredibly harmful to the planet due to its property to trap heat in the atmosphere. Attempts to solve this by capturing and storing carbon. This process occurs naturally in plants (#TeamTrees), soils and the ocean, with large areas of this captured CO2 being known as a Carbon Sink (basically underground). By storing this carbon, it prevents it from entering the atmosphere and trapping heat.

What is the geoengineering strategy of Marine Cloud Brightening?

Clouds are full of water, but what if we added more? This method of geoengineering suggests this, with it involving ships spraying saltwater into clouds above the sea. This would brighten the clouds and reflect more sunlight, decreasing heat. This could be much more localized than Aerosol Injection, but may have unintended effects on weather patterns if only certain regions are 'brightened'

Who broke the story of Operation Popeye?

Columnist Jack Anderson at the Washington Post in March of 1971.

What does CBD stand for?

Convention on Biological Diversity

What are the different kind of impacts that international governance needs to address?

Cross-border environmental, social and economic impacts, as well as issues around responsibility, liability, monitoring and accounting, as well as finance.

What is the externality factor in geoengineering?

Defined as "A consequence of an industrial or commercial activity which affects other parties without this being reflected in market prices." Basically, the unforeseen effects of something which is not reflected by economic impact.

What is Enhanced weathering and ocean alkalinity?

Enhancing natural weathering of rocks by extracting, grinding and dispersing carbon-binding minerals on land, or adding alkaline minerals to the ocean to enhance carbon uptake.

What things are needed for the large scale CDR and how can governance help?

Extensive amounts of land, energy or water and might compete with food production or other activities. Some technologies could result in negative effects for biodiversity, air, ground water and soil quality. On the other hand, other approaches, such as soil sequestration of carbon could improve crop productivity and biodiversity. Different CDR methods could affect communities unequally, creating liability and compensation issues. Governance could help address these issues and strengthen accountability.

What is Ocean fertilization?

Fertilizing oceans to accelerate phytoplankton growth, which absorbs CO2 then dies transporting carbon from the atmosphere to seabed

What are Fog Harps?

Fog is simply a large collection of water droplets, and so when fog passes over regions, fog collectors are often used to collect this water. However, these are highly ineffective, collecting only about 3 liters per square meter of mesh, 1% - 3% of the possible amount. Enter the fog harp, an improvement on the design which removed the horizontal lines of the mesh, only having vertical wires. This is because the horizontal wires prevented the water from dripping down, eventually clogging up the collector and causing the fog to flow around. Fog Harps, though currently only in a prototype phase, are able to collect up to 9 liters per square meter of mesh, a 3x improvement over a traditional fog collector.

What is geoengineering?

Geoengineering involves large scale efforts to change the Earth in an attempt to decouple the effect of carbon emissions on our climate. In other words, it tries to make carbon emissions not affect the climate as drastically.

Mt. Pinatubo

In 1991, one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th Century occurred in the Zambales Mountains, a mountain range bordering the provinces: Zambales, Tarlac, and Pampanga. On June 15th, 5 cubic kilometers of ash and sulphuric acid haze was ejected into the atmosphere, reaching up to 35km high. Due to the high amount of ash ejected, 10% less sunlight hit the Earth's surface, decreasing global temperatures by 0.4OC, showing that Stratospheric Aerosols can decrease global temperature.

What does IPCC stand for?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Terrestrial Weathering

Involves dispersing silicate minerals on land, likely in areas of crop production, in high amounts. This speeds up the reaction and results in high levels of CO2 absorption whilst also acting as a fertilizer and increasing crop production.

Ocean Fertilization

Involves dumping Iron Sulphates or other nutrients into the ocean to increase populations of phytoplankton. These plankton will absorb CO2 and then die, storing carbon. However, there have been high amounts of opposition towards this approach, as the impacts of this are still unknown, as well as the vague laws surrounding it.

Oceanic Enhanced Weathering

Is a much more direct approach than Terrestrial Weathering, placing the silicate minerals along coastlines or within the ocean to increase the amount of carbon absorbed, whilst also have the lovely side-effect of decreasing ocean acidity (how convenient!). However, it's unknown how it would affect the biodiversity and ecosystem of the ocean.

Biomass

Is a plant or animal material that is used for energy production. The most common of these are forms of wood, but it also includes many crops, food processing and manure. Has been defined as Carbon Neutral by the UN and EU, as the energy released by burning it is equivalent to the amount that it is able to absorb when replanted. This has generated some controversy in the scientific community, as though all biomass crops are able to sequester carbon, they may not be carbon neutral depending on changes in land use, such as deforestation.

Radiative Forcing

Is the difference between the solar energy absorbed by the Earth and the energy radiated back into space. Changes to this result in changes to the temperature of the Earth. It's caused by varying amounts of greenhouse gases.

Ice-albedo feedback

Is what we call a positive feedback loop, which means that effect A creates more of effect B and consequently B creates more of A and so on. This follows the same cycle. Existing ice reflects light coming from the sun, which prevents it from getting absorbed by the Earth. When ice melts, the total surface area of ice decreases, which means there is less ice to reflect sunlight and therefore more sunlight is absorbed by the earth. This warms up the Earth even more and causes more ice to melt. Ice-albedo feedback is a phenomenon that has a severe effect on global warming and dramatically accelerates the melting of ice caps, glaciers and sea ice.

What did the UN Treaty do?

It forbade countries from using environmental modification in war, but had so many loopholes that they may as well have not tried.

What does the term "APEC blue" mean?

It is used to describe the capital's clear skies during the two-week gathering of world leaders during the APEC summit. The blue skies vanished once the leaders had left.

What is the geoengineering strategy of Aerosol injection?

It's based off of the idea of volcanoes, and how when they erupt, they release Sulphuric Acid which, when it forms aerosols within the atmosphere, is able to reflect sunlight. By artificially introducing aerosols into the atmosphere, we would be able to induce cooling. This is the most commonly proposed form of solar-geoengineering, as we currently have most of the necessary technology.

What is the factor of Encapsulation?

Means to enclose it, so in the context of geoengineering, it means whether it will enclose around, or affect the entire world. Certain geoengineering solutions will only affect a certain area of the globe, such as high-albedo crops and buildings whilst solutions such as aerosol injection will have a global effect. Some nations may not wish to carry out geoengineering or have it affect them, and would therefore be opposed to any encapsulative geoengineering.

Ocean Upwelling

Natural Upwelling occurs when surface winds over the ocean push warm water away from an area. Cool water then rises to fill this area. This cooler water is generally more nutrient rich, and has higher populations of phytoplankton. This process occurs naturally, but in the context of geoengineering, it is suggested that a series of pipes are used to pump cold water up to the surface of the ocean, increasing phytoplankton populations which will then absorb CO2. However, there has been a limited amount of research into this, and it is unknown whether it would be practical or not.

What are Afforestation and forest ecosystem restoration

Planting and restoration of forests that result in long-term storage of carbon.

Solar Radiation

Radiant energy emitted by the sun comes from a nuclear fusion reaction. Approximately half of this energy is visible, shortwave light whilst the other half is infrared/ultraviolet. This energy heats up the Earth.

In Hangzhou, August 2016, how many factories were closed?

225

What is the act of Enhancing soil carbon content?

Land management changes that increase soil carbon concentration and biochar.

What are the unknowns of geoengineering?

The impact of releasing Sulphur into the atmosphere, including acid rain (though no meat showers), and the difficulty of getting the heavy technology necessary to spray it up into the stratosphere.

Enhanced Weathering

The natural process of weathering begins by silicate and carbonate minerals dissolving in rainwater, absorbing CO2 as they form bicarbonate ions. These then end up in the ocean and become stable, storing a higher amount of CO2 than they release. Weathering is currently responsible for storing 0.3% of CO2. Involves doing weathering on a much larger scale.

Carbon Dioxide Capture

This attempts to remove Carbon Dioxide at its sources, most commonly fossil fuel based power plants or other areas which emit high amounts of CO2. The CO2 which is dispersed is then separated from the air, most commonly through carbon scrubbing (also known as absorption) using amines. This CO2 would then be transported by pipeline and to a point where it can be sequestered. The most common suggestions include injecting it into exhausted oil and gas fields or reacted with carbonates (specifically olivine).

What is Building with biomass?

Using carbon embedded in biomass (such as timber) in construction.

How can crops be made with high albedo?

by introducing genes that would give plants a waxy sheen

Who is responsible for the Earth's rapidly warming temperatures?

human activity

Arctic Methane Release

The Arctic region is a store of a lot of the world's methane, through natural gas deposits, permafrost and solid compounds. However, as the Arctic melts, much of this stored methane is released, increasing the amount of Greenhouse Gasses in the atmosphere and making the effects of climate change even worse.

What is the factor of reversibility in geoengineering?

The ability for a solution to be reversed. Most geoengineering solutions are reversible, but that's not necessarily a good thing, as that means that anti climate-change terrorists or those who are against using geoengineering may be able to stop the deployment of the geoengineering solutions and reverse its effects.

What is a Hail Cannon?

These are large metal cones that create shockwaves every 1 - 10 seconds, supposedly turning the forming hailstones within a 100m square around the cone into rain / slush. However, there has been no proof that Hail Cannons actually work, as thunder provides a much larger shockwave yet doesn't destroy hail.

What does it mean when salt particles act as cloud condensation nuclei when airborne?

They would facilitate the condensation of water vapor into liquid. As more water droplets are created, clouds would appear larger and brighter.

What is a Cloudbuster?

This device, designed by Wilhelm Reich (a psychoanalyst) in 1877 could supposedly cause rain by manipulating 'Orgone Energy' present in the atmosphere. The cloudbuster was made of a series of parallel metal pipe, followed by a collection of flexible metal tubes coming out of each one that were then placed into a pool of water, as it was a 'natural orgone absorber'. This supposedly acted as a lightning rod, drawing the water to the ground when it was pointed at clouds. There has been no proof that this energy actually exists, or that the device worked in any way, so take Reich's findings with a grain of salt.

What is the geoengineering strategy for high-albedo crops and buildings?

This involves painting buildings white. Whilst it would have limited use in cities, as many buildings are already white, the main amount of reflectivity would come from genetically engineering plants to be more reflective, either in color or due to a waxy consistency. Though they may be less appealing to eat, it might be worth it to save the planet.

What is the geoengineering strategy for space sunshades?

This involves placing one large mirror, or multiple small mirrors, into space to reflect sunlight away from Earth. For it to offset climate change, the mirror would need to reflect back approximately 2% of all sunlight that comes towards Earth. This is the least environmentally disruptive solar geoengineering solution but is also the most technologically difficult

Bioprecipitation

This is the nucleation of ice in bacteria in clouds, causing rain / snow. Basically, ice particles form around bacteria within clouds, which is then dispersed through rain / snow. These biological nuclei are capable of allowing freezing at much warmer temperatures than cloud seeding provides, allowing snow at warmer temperatures. However, these bacteria can cause freezing injury and frost to plants if they come in contact with them, resulting in these bacteria damaging crops.

What is the Termination Effect?

This is the risk of the geoengineering solution suddenly stopped working

Removal of other GHGs

Though Carbon Dioxide is one of the most common Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere, there are many others that we must remove if we wish to reverse climate change. These include Methane, Nitrous Oxide, HCFCs, CFCs and Ozone. The processes range from the relatively normal, such as the reaction of Methane with a byproduct of Ozone's reactions with light, to the fantastical, such as using lasers to break up CFCs. However, the focus remains on removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Land Use Management

Though generally, this means managing the land and the resources on it in whichever way individuals and governments determine to be necessary, in the context of carbon dioxide removal, land use management can include reforestation (restoring forests), afforestation (converting non-forested land to forest) and optimizing forestry and agricultural practice.

What is the geoengineering strategy for cloud thinning?

Though previously, we said that it was a good idea to increase the reflectivity of the clouds, not all clouds are created equal. Estimates say that the heat-trapping effect of cirrus clouds is greater than all human-created CO2! Because of this, drones could inject aerosol particles into these clouds, resulting in them dissipating faster. However, if this is done incorrectly, the cirrus clouds could come back thicker, and increase the heat-trapping effect.

From March 1967 to July 1972 what did the U.S. military spend $3 million on in South Asia?

To conduct a secret operation with the goal to extend the monsoon season and flood the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the system of supply routes used by enemy fighters in Vietnam.

True or False? It is clear that we cannot stop climate change in time to prevent all consequences.

True

What does UNEA stand for?

United Nations Environment Assembly

What does UNFCCC stand for?

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

What is the difference between cloud condensation nuclei and aerosol injection?

Unlike aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening could, in theory, be used over very specific areas

How do volcano eruptions decrease the temperature?

When a volcano erupts, it sends an ash cloud high into the atmosphere. The Sulphur dioxide released in the plume combines with water to form sulfuric acid aerosols, which are able to reflect incoming sunlight.

What is a trade-off in geoengineering?

Within the context of geoengineering, this may be decreasing cost to increase effectiveness, or decreasing time scale whilst also decreasing the reversibility.

According to IPCC, in order for all pathways to keep global warming under 1.5°C, CDR has to remove how many Gigatonnes of accumulated CO2?

between 100 - 1000 by 2100

What risk comes when focusing on large scale CDR?

creates a moral hazard as it might delay efforts to reduce emissions

Desert Reflectors

desert reflectors were theorized by Takyuki Toyama and Alan Stainer. The idea involves placing 60,000 square kilometers worth of mirrors, or some form of reflective sheet on the surface of the Earth. This area is equivalent to the size of Sri Lanka. The estimated cost would be a mere $280 billion, a much lower amount than the proposed amounts to reverse climate change.

When exploring methods of geoengineering, what is needed to be considered?

effectiveness, time scale, externalities, and costs

What type of engineering focuses on removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

geoengineering

What is the issue that is considered "the major barrier" looming over solar geoengineering?

how - if at all - it will be used by society

What is albedo a measure of?

how reflective a surface is of light without the light being absorbed

Sunshield

is a component of the James Webb Space Telescope that shields the main optics from the Sun's heat and light, allowing it to take photos of far away stars and galaxies without interference, as the heat signals of these far away stars / galaxies are incredibly low. There are five layers of the sunshield, with each being the size of a tennis court whilst also being as thin as a human hair. The sunshield is made out of Kapton, with each layer being coated in aluminum.

Cool Roof

is a roof on a building that is designed to reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat than a regular roof, due to having a lower albedo. They can be made by using a reflective paint, a sheet covering or reflective tiles. The coolest possible roof is one made of stainless steel, but costs result in this not being very common.

What is Glaciogenic cloud seeding?

is carried out on colder clouds, with the particles instead acting as points around which ice can accumulate, causing snow

mitigate

make less severe, serious, or painful

What does MRV stand for?

monitoring, reporting and verification

How many runs did the task force for Operation Popeye have in the 5-year program?

over 2000

What are some consequences of global warming?

rising sea levels, extreme weather phenomena, and mass extinctions

At best what can we do about climate change?

slow it down

What does SRM stand for?

solar radiation management

What are Cirrus clouds?

thin wispy clouds that actually absorb more energy than they release, and they absorb a lot

What is the highest albedo color?

white