Teaching Climate Change
Geoengineering
Dr. Wil Burns
Associate Director, Energy Policy & Climate
Program
Johns Hopkins University
CAMEL Climate Change Continuing Education
Symposium
November 20, 2012
2
“Climate Geoengineering”
“[O]ptions that would involve large-scale
engineering of our environment in order to
combat or counteract the effects of changes
in atmospheric chemistry.”
U.S. National Academy of Sciences
3
ROADMAP
• Brief description of primary
climate geoengineering options;
• Governance options;
• Teaching resources
Phytoplankton
The Ocean and the “Biological Pump”
Planktonic Collage: What Plankton Species
Might Ocean Iron Fertilization Favor?
Air Capture
Geoengineering: Sulfur Injection
(Surface temperature difference from present day during June, July and August with the
2×CO2 simulation and the geoengineering simulation using 2 Tg S yr−1 emission (which is not
sufficient to entirely balance the greenhouse warming).
Rasch P J et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2008;366:4007-4037
Geoengineering: The Space Option
UNFCCC
Article 2 Objective
The ultimate objective of this Convention . . . is to achieve, in
accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention, stabilization
of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that
would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate
system.[emphasis added]
Article 4 Commitments
1. (b) Formulate, implement, publish and regularly update national and,
where appropriate, regional programmes containing measures to
mitigate climate change by addressing anthropogenic emissions by
sources and removals by sinks of . . . greenhouse gases . . . and
measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change; [emphasis
added]