Thoughts on Dimming the Sun

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Thoughts on Dimming the Sun?
Couple of take home messages Importance of dull
monitoring Interactions of climate
effects Greenhouse gasses and particulates This
is what makes ecosystem science so difficult
Good to look at questions from several approaches
Monitoring
Geographic comparison
Experiment
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Facts from the movie 1. Solar radiation is
reduced by ?
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2. What was the effect of no Contrails?
Larger difference between daytime highs and
night-time lows
3. More than half of effect of greenhouse
warming is counterbalanced by sun dimming
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Last time we ended with graphs of how CO2
emissions from burning fossil fuels This change
would increase concentration of CO2 in Atmosphere
by 2
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IPCC
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Precipitation patterns likely to change as well
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Consequences of soil warming
Tundra is diminished Ice disappears from
Greenland Deserts expand
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Changes to temperature, soil moisture, and
permafrost will lead to changes in species
distributions
Only fast moving species will survive
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Arctic animals and plants cant move north
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• How do we solve this problem?
• Probably a multitude of ways
• Geo-engineering
• Reduction in Greenhouse Gases
• Social assistance for nations and peoples

Lester Brown in Eco-Economy Ecologists
understand that all economic activity depends on
the earths ecosystems - the complex of
individual species living together, interacting
with each other and their physical environment
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The gap between economists and eoclogists could
not be wider Ecologists see limits -
Economists revel in unprecedented growth -
The challenge for our generation is to reverse
these trends before environmental deterioration
leads to long-term economic decline.
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How do we do this?
Build an Eco-economy, one that respects the
principles of ecologyan economy that can be
integrated into the ecosystem in a way that will
stabilize the two, enabling economic progress to
continue. Lester Brown 2002
We are in the midst of a revolution
Socialism collapsed because it did not allow
prices to tell the economic truth. Capitalism
may collapse because it does not allow prices to
tell the ecological truth. Oystein Dahle, Vice
President of Esso
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• We need 4 major changes
• Solar/hydrogen energy economy
• Public transportation system
• Reuse/Recycle economy
• Stabilize population

Next week we discuss how we do this!
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Shifting the Tax Base