After watching a video in class several weeks ago I began to question if carbon sequestration is truly a viable answer to solving the global climate change crisis as I had initially once thought. It was presented in the video, (sorry I can't recall the title at the moment but will try and find out after completing this post) that global temperature plots alongside atmospheric carbon levels show the opposite of what most people would assume. Based on reports from the media and just general heresay I, along with the majority of the population, I assume, would believe that the temperature curve would follow the carbon curve throughout the time cycle. Alas, this was presented as completely opposite in the video. The "experts" were showing graphs in which the carbon levels were following the temperature curve almost exactly, but at an approximate two hundred year gap. The evidence for the gap was that it takes so long to heat the world's oceans and cool them down because of their enormous capacity that it takes about two hundred years for the carbon curve to follow. This was startiling information for me. It opened up a few ideas in my head that others have already discovered and have been presenting for some time. The main idea is that global warming is not anthropocentric. In other words, human beings are not the center of cause for the global warming that is occuring.
One rather provocative blogpost I came across discussed this. The title of the blog is "Get Real, People!" so you have an idea from the title that it can be a little bit of a rant, but some points are well explained and analyzed. The blogpost I focused on was Temperature vs Carbon Dioxide Connection. The author breaks down some information concerning the temperature/carbon dioxide curve and makes some statements using analogies that put things into perspective. He also touches on the uncertainty of climate change research which I think is another huge issue in itself. Lastly, he comments on how global warming has created its own funding by scare tactics and says we should stop giving our money to these types of research.... interesting.
I'm really glad to see you posing these questions here! I just wanted to share a few quick thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThe video was called the Great Global Warming Swindle. I showed it as an example of Science Communication, but we didn't spend much time discussing whether the substance was accurate. Many respected climate scientists have taken the time to debunk the film, and I should have more clearly stated that it does not represent the findings or beliefs of most climate scientists. I say this not to quelch debate, but just so that you know that this video represents a minority scientific opinion.
Second, I think it's very good to ask questions about carbon sequestration, but the impact of carbon on the atmosphere is maybe not the most important one. Do you remember Roel Snieder, who spoke in our class before break? He gives a very convincing presentation that argues that CCS is just not an advanced enough technology, has too many problems, and is entirely too expensive to justify its use. From my point of view, those are interesting perspectives to debate.
You might see if you can make an appointment to chat with him about this. He's very nice and approachable. Just a thought.