By SETH BORENSTEIN , Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The president's new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth's air.
John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays. Holdren said such an experimental measure would only be used as a last resort.
"It's got to be looked at," he said. "We don't have the luxury of taking any approach off the table."
Holdren outlined several "tipping points" involving global warming that could be fast approaching. Once such milestones are reached, such as complete loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic, it increases chances of "really intolerable consequences," he said.
Twice in a half-hour interview, Holdren compared global warming to being "in a car with bad brakes driving toward a cliff in the fog."
At first, Holdren characterized the potential need to technologically tinker with the climate as just his personal view. However, he went on to say he has raised it in administration discussions.
Holdren, a 65-year-old physicist, is far from alone in taking geoengineering more seriously. The National Academy of Science is making climate tinkering the subject of its first workshop in its new multidiscipline climate challenges program. The British parliament has also discussed the idea.
The American Meteorological Society is crafting a policy statement on geoengineering that says "it is prudent to consider geoengineering's potential, to understand its limits and to avoid rash deployment."
Last week, Princeton scientist Robert Socolow told the National Academy that geoengineering should be an available option in case climate worsens dramatically.
The world is going crazy!!!
Seems to me the hot air problem we need to contend with isn't up there, it's down here; more precisely, eminating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
With what, oh what, has 53% of our country beset us?
Elmer,
A thought just occured to me.
How is it that the same man and administration so unwilling/unable to thwart a renegade missle launch in North Korea, a runaway nuclear program in Iran, and a raft full of Somali pirates off the Gulf of Aden can claim divine ability to control the climate at will?
How long 'til the 53% regrets its populist choice?
Let me get this straight. The same people who want to raise your energy costs through taxation also want to cool your planet? If I had criminal intentions I couldn't dream of a better scam.
"How long 'til the 53% regrets its populist choice?"
Not until the media stops its love affair.
Doesn't anyone believe in God anymore? In the 1930s Minnesota was hit with a severe drought. The Governor called for 3 days of fasting and prayer at the end of those 3 days the rains came.
Hey, If they do this instead of cap-and-trade, I'll be all for it.
Very good post. Thanks for sharing.