Spring Break
Colloquium explores URI global warming engineering projects
Tyler Will
Issue date: 10/29/08 Section: Campus
10/29/08 - In a couple of decades, if you see a giant air filter or hear about a bunch of lenses in space, you're seeing evidence of engineering projects to prevent the planet from warming.
At last night's Fall 2008 Honors Colloquium, University of Rhode Island professors Jim Opaluch of CELS, and Art Spivack of oceanography, investigated projects that aim to either increase the earth's ability to reflect the sun's rays or decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Either approach will end in the same way: global temperatures will remain stable, and both human and non-human life will survive.
Opaluch and Spivack took information presented during the last several speeches and analyzed solutions. Past speakers have made scientific assertions that ice sheets will melt and arctic life would suffer; rising temperatures will cause heat waves, which could kill humans; and carbon dioxide would reduce the pH of the ocean, threatening aquatic life.
At the end of the speech, Opaluch and Spivack provided their verdict on geoengineering, the term used to describe global warming mitigation projects. Each professor's verdict struck a balance between ethical issues facing geoengineering and the possible rewards of those projects. Some of those ethical questions ask if humans have the right to intentionally alter the environment.
"I like to think of geoengineering as a life boat," Opaluch said. "You're not going to ignore leaks in your ship just because you have a life boat … but in a worst case scenario, a life boat is going to buy you some time."
Spivack's verdict praised the possible rewards of geoengineering, but emphasized regulation of projects.
"There is not going to be a silver bullet on this," he said.
The projects Opaluch and Spivack investigated were a large carbon scrubber, which would remove carbon dioxide from air, a series of lenses in space, an ocean fertilizer and sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.
Spivack said one of the challenges of the projects is their unregulated nature.
At last night's Fall 2008 Honors Colloquium, University of Rhode Island professors Jim Opaluch of CELS, and Art Spivack of oceanography, investigated projects that aim to either increase the earth's ability to reflect the sun's rays or decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Either approach will end in the same way: global temperatures will remain stable, and both human and non-human life will survive.
Opaluch and Spivack took information presented during the last several speeches and analyzed solutions. Past speakers have made scientific assertions that ice sheets will melt and arctic life would suffer; rising temperatures will cause heat waves, which could kill humans; and carbon dioxide would reduce the pH of the ocean, threatening aquatic life.
At the end of the speech, Opaluch and Spivack provided their verdict on geoengineering, the term used to describe global warming mitigation projects. Each professor's verdict struck a balance between ethical issues facing geoengineering and the possible rewards of those projects. Some of those ethical questions ask if humans have the right to intentionally alter the environment.
"I like to think of geoengineering as a life boat," Opaluch said. "You're not going to ignore leaks in your ship just because you have a life boat … but in a worst case scenario, a life boat is going to buy you some time."
Spivack's verdict praised the possible rewards of geoengineering, but emphasized regulation of projects.
"There is not going to be a silver bullet on this," he said.
The projects Opaluch and Spivack investigated were a large carbon scrubber, which would remove carbon dioxide from air, a series of lenses in space, an ocean fertilizer and sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.
Spivack said one of the challenges of the projects is their unregulated nature.
