Artificial cooling tricky topic for climate panel

[unhappycamper]

http://www.adn.com/2014/04/10/3418825/artificial-cooling-tricky-topic.html?sp=/99/171/



FILE - In this July 4, 2005 file photo Marc Olefs, left, and Andrea Fischer, researchers from the Innsbruck University check a field covered with white polyethylene against the backdrop of majestic jagged peaks at Eisgrat (Ice Spine) skiing station on Stubai glacier near the village of Neustift im Stubaital in the alpine Austrian province of Tyrol. It's Plan B in the fight against climate change: cooling the planet by sucking heat-trapping CO2 from the air or reflecting sunlight back into space. The U.N.’s expert panel on climate change is under pressure from both sides this week in Berlin, Germany, as it considers whether geoengineering should be part of the toolkit that governments use to keep global warming in check.

Artificial cooling tricky topic for climate panel
By KARL RITTER
Associated Press
April 10, 2014 Updated 7 hours ago

BERLIN — It's Plan B in the fight against climate change: cooling the planet by sucking heat-trapping CO2 from the air or reflecting sunlight back into space.

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"Really at the present moment there is a high level of uncertainty surrounding all of these options," said Steve Rayner, co-director of Oxford University's geoengineering program. Still, he said it's worth continuing to research geoengineering "to get a better sense of whether there's any merit in pursuing these technologies further."

After discussions among governments and scientists, a mention of geoengineering was added last year to the first of four summaries of the IPCC's authoritative assessment on climate change. They are now working on the third one, which deals specifically with fighting climate change.

The document is important because it will be used as scientific guidance for governments as they negotiate a new global climate pact, set to be adopted in 2015.