Recently, Barack Obama`s chief science advisor John Holdren suggested America should look into ways to geo-engineer the planet; in essence, Holdren believes that Anthropogenic Global Warming is so dire that we need to invent some drastic measure to essentially terra form the planet to keep temperatures down
Terraforming literally means "Earth-shaping" and is a concept considered in relations to other planets in our solar system-most notably Mars-to make them Earthlike for human colonists) Holdren is essentially suggesting that we pour pollution into the atmosphere, emitting particulate matter-aerosols-to increase the Earth`s atmospheric albedo (reflectivity). It would act like an enormous parasol, much like the pale young ladies of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries would employ to keep their snow-white complexions. Holdren and other AGW alarmists (the Gang-Green, as I like to call them) are absolutely convinced that human emissions of carbon dioxide are at the core of the cataclysmic 1* of warming in the 20th century, and that we are approaching a "tipping point" where temperatures will skyrocket worldwide, leading to catastrophic melting in the Arctic and Antarctic and a disastrous rise in sea levels.
But the rate of sea level rise has not increased in the 20th century (sea levels have been rising for 10,000 years, since the end of the last Ice Age) and there has been no Global Warming since 1995 with the exception of the El-Nino spike in 1998 (according to MIT Meteorologist and IPCC scientist Richard Lindzen. Of course, liberals never let the facts get in the way of a good paradigm, and in the immortal words of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste" -even if that crisis is largely manufactured-so the heroes in the White House will simply ignore such minor details and propose new multi-billion dollar projects designed to empower government and impoverish those pesky people. What right do they have to enjoy consumer goods with their own money? Government can spend it better by purchasing bonnets and parasols for Mother Gaia!
In point of fact, much has been made of the "Asian Brown Cloud", a dirty smog haze that hovers over Asia like cigarette smoke in an enclosed automobile. With the emergence of China, Korea, and India as industrial heavyweights-industrial powers not hampered by clean-air laws and modern clean technology-the world`s largest continent enjoys a cloud of pollution. During the Summer Olympics in Beijing athletes had to train with bandannas over their faces to filter out the particulate matter.
Well...
According to Dr Drew Shindell of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) efforts in the 1970`s to curb acid rain and clean the air may be the cause of Global Warming, or at least responsible for melting the ice cap. Industrial emissions put tons of particulate matter into the atmosphere, matter that acted just like Holdren`s "artificial volcanoes" in that they reflected solar energy back into space. During the 70s and 80s environmentalists worked feverishly to clean the Earth`s atmosphere, and the result is an atmosphere with fewer aerosols, meaning a warmer world with more sunlight striking the surface. In the paraphrased words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright; America`s environmentalist chickens have come home....to roost.
Lest we forget, black carbon-that byproduct of impartial combustion of fossil (sic) fuels-can settle on the polar ice and absorb energy, changing the planetary energy balance. (There is some dispute on whether petroleum products are actually fossilsor are naturally occurring-as on Saturn`s moon Titan.) Clean air and dirty ice mean warm glaciers.
So, like Goldilocks in the three bears` house, this pollution is too hot, this pollution is too cold. Which is right?
Yet the Obama Administration and all of the Gang Green continue to press for clean air restrictions while at the same time pressing for geo-engineering the atmosphere. Why should we not simply go back to the way things were before the world`s governments began restricting industrial emissions?
Perhaps we should seed all smokestack products with something to turn the waste from brown to white? It actually might not be a bad thing to try, given that the Chinese, Koreans, and Indians are going to emit those gasses anyway. Develop a seeding program and see if we have a worldwide drop in temperatures.
Nah. Sometimes the best thing a doctor can do is nothing ("first do no harm") and, given the lack of warming of late it would make little sense to take such drastic action now-whether one believe in AGW or not. Spending billions (trillions?) on a pretty white parasol, spring bonnet, and lacy white gloves for this old Earth may excite the fashionably minded among us, but is likely a huge waste of time.
I am reminded of the children`s song:
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.
I don't know how she swallowed a cow.
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog.
She swallowed the dog, to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a horse...
She's dead of course!
Simple as this is, it illustrates the folly that humanity is often prey to; intellectual hubris. Very often the law of unintended consequences comes into play, and our attempts to "fix" things lands us in worse doo-doo. Who would have guessed that the invention of a machine to pull seeds from cotton would lead to slavery and ultimately a terrible war with huge loss of life, disfigurement for many, and starvation? Who would imagine that, prior to this war, the simple act by France to produce Rum on the islands where they grew sugar cane would destroy the triangle trade that made slavery so lucrative? This is known as the Butterfly Effect; a butterfly beats its wings in Africa and a hurricane hits Jamaica. Rachel Carson`s book "Silent Spring" has caused millions of deaths worldwide from malaria by leading to the ban on DDT. Oftentimes taking some course of action is not preferable to holding a wait-and-see approach to things.
But those on the Left do not believe in self-correcting mechanisms, as they are heady with their own power, and too often they believe all depends on their personal control of events. We see this in economics, where they seek to circumvent natural controls in favor of government regulation. We see this in technology where they have attempted to seize control of the internet (John Rockefeller and Olympia Snow have submitted a bill to create a National Cyber security Advisor office under the President to regulate cyberspace). We see this with dietary restrictions, with zoning regulations, with all manner of behavior modifying laws.
Liberals hate anything not under their thumbs. I would dare venture that it stems from their worldview in which rationality is puffed up in importance to the point that the human mind is bestowed with Godlike properties while God is bestowed with non-existence. Self-deification means that Man must handle everything, can leave nothing to chance. Thus we have to "fix" the environment whether it is broken or not and whether we have the foggiest idea of where our repairs will lead.
And so Democrats and the Obama Administration have signed onto this for political reasons, and, as the Administration is doing with everything else, they will likely place the hand of big government in the mix. Nature is generally the best chef, and extra hands usually spoil the broth. The atmospheric broth is apt to turn mighty sour if we stick Obama`s big grubby mit into it.
