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Advancing the Science of Climate Change (2010)

Chapter: Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
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APPENDIX F
Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda

A Workshop to Provide Input to the America’s Climate Choices Study


June 15-16, 2009

Washington Court Hotel

525 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

The workshop will inform the work of the America’s Climate Choices suite of activities by examining a number of proposed “geoengineering” approaches, or interventions in the climate system designed to diminish the amount of climate change occurring after greenhouse gases or radiatively active aerosols are released to the atmosphere. The emphasis of the workshop will be on the research needed to better understand the potential efficacy and consequences of various geoengineering approaches.


The workshop will draw on a growing body of studies and previous workshops that have examined a broad range of geoengineering issues—from the international governance of deliberate climate interventions to the feasibility of specific approaches. The particular focus of this workshop will be approaches (i) to reduce concentrations of greenhouse gases after they have been emitted to the atmosphere (e.g., CO2 capture approaches) or (ii) to limit or offset physical effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations (e.g., Solar Radiation Management approaches). Other parts of the America’s Climate Choices study are addressing approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Furthermore, there is already a developed research effort in CO2 capture by conventional land-management approaches (e.g., conventional afforestation). Thus, these topics will be outside the scope of this workshop.


The workshop will be structured to bring multiple perspectives to the table—engineering, physical and environmental science, social science, policy, legal, and ethical—

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
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to encourage an interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange of ideas, with an emphasis on the research needed to better understand the potential efficacy and consequences of various geoengineering approaches.

Workshop Agenda

Monday, June 15

8:00

Registration

8:30

Welcome

Ralph Cicerone, National Academy of Sciences

8:45

Meeting Overview—Day 1: “Getting the Issues on the Table”

 

 

Pamela Matson, Stanford University

9:00

Survey of Geoengineering Options (Including Estimates of Effectiveness, Risk, and Cost)

 

 

Ken Caldeira, Carnegie Institution

9:40

Engineering: Important Questions, State of Knowledge, and Major Uncertainties Related to Selected Geoengineering Options

 

 

David Keith, University of Calgary

10:20

Break

10:50

Physical Science: Important Questions, State of Knowledge, and Major Uncertainties Related to Selected Geoengineering Options

 

 

Daniel Schrag, Harvard University

11:30

Terrestrial Ecosystems, Complexity, and Geoengineering

 

 

Tony Janetos, University of Maryland

12:00

Working Lunch (Informal Discussion)

1:00

From Research to Field Testing and Deployment: Ethical Issues Raised By Geoengineering (Panel Discussion)

 

 

Martin Bunzl, Rutgers University (Moderator)

Stephen Gardiner, University of Washington

Dale Jamieson, New York University

William Travis, University of Colorado

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
×

2:00

Governance and Geoengineering: Who Decides and How (Panel Discussion)

 

 

Granger Morgan, Carnegie Mellon University (Moderator)

John Steinbruner, University of Maryland

Jason Blackstock, IIASA

Jay Apt, Carnegie Mellon University

3:00

Assignments/instructions to breakout groups and 20-minute break

3:30

Breakout Session 1

All Participants

5:30

Adjourn for the day

Tuesday, June 16

8:30

Summary of Day 1/Plan for Day 2: “The Way Forward”

 

Pamela Matson, Stanford University

8:45

Report back from breakout groups and discussion

All Participants

10:15

Break

10:45

Reactions/Perspectives on Geoengineering (Panel Discussion)

 

Rob Socolow, Princeton University (Moderator)

James Fleming, Colby College

Michael Oppenheimer, Princeton University

Alan Robock, Rutgers University

Brian Toon, University of Colorado

11:45

Assignments/instructions to new breakout groups

12:00

Working Lunch

1:00

Breakout Session 2, including 20-minute break

All Participants

2:45

Report back from breakout groups following by open discussion

 

All Participants

4:00

Workshop Adjourns

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
×
Page 497
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
×
Page 498
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
×
Page 499
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Geoengineering Options to Respond to Climate Change: Steps to Establish a Research Agenda." National Research Council. 2010. Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12782.
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Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for—and in many cases is already affecting—a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the Science of Climate Change, part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America's Climate Choices. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never closed, the book shows that hypotheses about climate change are supported by multiple lines of evidence and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations.

As decision makers respond to these risks, the nation's scientific enterprise can contribute through research that improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change and also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The book identifies decisions being made in 12 sectors, ranging from agriculture to transportation, to identify decisions being made in response to climate change.

Advancing the Science of Climate Change calls for a single federal entity or program to coordinate a national, multidisciplinary research effort aimed at improving both understanding and responses to climate change. Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this scientific enterprise. In addition, leaders of federal climate research should redouble efforts to deploy a comprehensive climate observing system, improve climate models and other analytical tools, invest in human capital, and improve linkages between research and decisions by forming partnerships with action-oriented programs.

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