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San Francisco, 11:41 AM
Sun Nov 8
11 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #geoengineering more →

    Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work

    Geohackers Want to Transform the Sahara into a Forest

    Amazing Terraforming Projects - Real and Imaginary

    Is "Planet Hacking" The Only Way To Save The World?

    The Mysterious Cones of the Egyptian Desert

    Artificial Islands of the Dead Sea

    Farmers Put 220 Acres Under Glass to Create Vast Artificial Environment

    We Can Stop Global Warming — And Cook Ourselves Alive

    Show Caves of the Nouveau Riche

    Blowing Up the Panama Canal

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of missmonster missmonster
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    It's worrying that scientists are willing to fuck with the natural order of things like this, but then again, industry has been doing the same thing (with a less honourable motive) for ages. So who knows? Nautue, let us manipulate you.

    The dust storm was the most exciting thing to happen around these Sydney-parts for a long time. It was crazy how everyone just woke up, looked at the thick, bright orange sky and went 'huh, would you look at that? The sky is orange,' then headed off to work as if nothing was up.

    I personally woke up and started getting excited about the imminent apocolypse.
     Reply
    TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment missmonster was starred missmonster was unstarred
    Image of gorehound gorehound
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    sounds interesting to me.hey it can't be any worse than the damn polutants we keep spewing into the enviroment.this is an example of "good polution" i guess.
    DIRT POLLUTION !!!!
     Reply
    gorehound was starred gorehound was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    Climate change. Humans crashing things on the moon. Yadda yadda yadda. Oh looky. Pretty pictures.
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    So that dust storm was kinda' like God saying "Hey guys, try this."
     Reply
    reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of cylon_conspiracy cylon_conspiracy
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    I hope global warming (or climate change) is a problem for a long time. Not because I hate the earth, I just want to make sure the activists are occupied. Without something to stop or save they are listless.

    I'm reminded of the the character in Tales of the City (About SF in the 70s) where the guy's girlfriend joins the Israeli army because she couldn't deal with Viet Nam being over. Couldn't be happy without a cause to get involved in.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Edited by cylon_conspiracy at 10/08/09 1:16 PM cylon_conspiracy was starred cylon_conspiracy was unstarred
    Image of Dayburner Dayburner
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    The problem is over due it and you get a massive deadzone like in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Mississippi river. The problem is the algae bloom dies and as it decays it sucks the oxygen out of the water. This makes the zone unable to support life.
     Reply
    Grey_Area promoted this comment Dayburner was starred Dayburner was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    10/08/09

    @Dayburner: We may be facing something similar here in the San Francisco Bay. After over 150 years the last of all the sediment from the runoff of gold mining in the Sierras is finally washing out to sea. Life in the bay struggled and succeeded in adjusting to the murkier waters and now it may have to adapt to clearer conditions as "nature originally intended". An algae bloom is a serious and dangerous possibility here.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of Dayburner Dayburner
    10/08/09

    @Grey_Area: The main problem we have with the Gulf deadzone is agricultural runoff coming down the Mississippi river.

    [serc.carleton.edu]
     Reply
    Dayburner was starred Dayburner was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    10/08/09

    @Grey_Area: Quick! Start shoveling!
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of tmittan01000001002003004 tmittan01000001002003004
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    This is exactly how God planned everything, the soil becomes too dry due to drought caused by "global warming" and blows into the ocean which in turn counteracts global warming causes. Everything work out fine if we just stay the hell out of the way and let nature run it's course.
    It's too damn cold here for me to believe in global warming.
     Reply
    Grey_Area promoted this comment tmittan01000001002003004 was starred tmittan01000001002003004 was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    10/08/09

    @tmittan01000001002003004: "Climate change" is a more accurate term and yeah it's happening.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of icelight icelight
    10/08/09

    @tmittan01000001002003004: Of course, by the time the climate is changed enough to have massive, widespread droughts, you will have killed off all the species that lived in those regions, raised the sea level to flood coastal, and disrupted countless other ecosystems beyond any hope of recovery. But sure, call that "working out fine" while you sit in your air conditioned room and blithely condemn the natural world to destruction because it's "what God wanted".
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment icelight was starred icelight was unstarred
    Image of Demosthenes7898 Demosthenes7898
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    I love humanity.
     Reply
    Demosthenes7898 was starred Demosthenes7898 was unstarred
    Image of CoyoteBrown CoyoteBrown
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    You am play gods!

    ian jones: Me am fixing climate! no am play gods!
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment CoyoteBrown was starred CoyoteBrown was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    10/08/09

    @CoyoteBrown: ian jones while being engulfed by a giant alge monster: Me am play gods!
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    10/08/09

    In reply to Sydney Dust Storm Proves Geoengineering the Oceans Could Work
    This is crazy--no one should be allowed to do this without at least international consultation.

    The truth is that we really don't know what this will do to the oceans, or the planet. These are very complex systems; these brute force solutions are bound to have unforeseen consequences.
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of Bigdamnhero Bigdamnhero
    10/08/09

    @Anekanta: "These are very complex systems; these brute force solutions are bound to have unforeseen consequences."

    Yup. But then again, that's what BOINC projects are for. Maybe we can actually figure this stuff out, before we do something stupid.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz promoted this comment Bigdamnhero was starred Bigdamnhero was unstarred
    Image of zenpoet zenpoet
    09/18/09

    In reply to Geohackers Want to Transform the Sahara into a Forest
    "You live in a desert!
    You know what it's going to a be
    a hundred years from now?
    It's going to be a ------- desert!
    We have deserts in America
    we just don't live in them!"
     Reply
    zenpoet was starred zenpoet was unstarred
    Image of ParryLost ParryLost
    09/16/09

    In reply to Geohackers Want to Transform the Sahara into a Forest
    There are probably upsides and downsides to this idea. What I can't comprehend is people who argue that the way the climate naturally changes is in some sense superior to human-guided change. The climate doesn't have a mind or a plan, and it doesn't change in ways that are meant to do good or bad. It just happens. The Sahara doesn't "need" to be a desert. It just happens to be one. This is good for some species, and bad for others. But unlike the blind forces of nature, human scientists can weigh the pros and cons, and make plans to carry out changes that will improve things in the long run.

    Today, we have the power to change the climate, for good or ill. Abdicating this responsibility is a choice with consequences, just as trying to use this ability for good is a choice with consequences. Pretending that somehow, the blind forces of nature "know best" is just a way of running away from our responsibilities, and of ignoring the power we now have, which is a dangerous way of thinking.
     Reply
    Anekanta promoted this comment Edited by ParryLost at 09/16/09 3:31 PM ParryLost was starred ParryLost was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    09/16/09

    @ParryLost: Yes, but if something goes horribly wrong, then humans have to take responsibility for that, and we can always say that humans ought to have known better.

    If the climate does it, fate, well, then the results may be tragic, but there's no one to get mad at, no one to hate--it's just the way things turned out.
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of ThisDudeRufus ThisDudeRufus
    09/16/09

    In reply to Geohackers Want to Transform the Sahara into a Forest
    I know it isn't quite the same thing, but I thought this was pretty neat...
     Reply
    ThisDudeRufus was starred ThisDudeRufus was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    09/16/09

    @ThisDudeRufus: Very cool.
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    09/16/09

    In reply to Geohackers Want to Transform the Sahara into a Forest
    But where will Shai-Hulud live?
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of James Countryman James Countryman
    09/16/09

    @Anekanta: In my pants.

    (I was seriously going to pitch a fit if the first comment wasn't a Dune joke, and now it's a random Harvey Birdman joke.)
     Reply
    Anekanta promoted this comment Edited by James Countryman at 09/16/09 2:45 PM James Countryman was starred James Countryman was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - Go Play! Anekanta - Go Play!
    09/16/09

    @James Countryman: Nice.
     Reply
    Anekanta - Go Play! was starred Anekanta - Go Play! was unstarred
    Image of Cory Gross Cory Gross
    09/16/09

    In reply to Geohackers Want to Transform the Sahara into a Forest
    I remember seeing this in Disney's "Eyes in Outer Space", which was released 50 years ago. After the animated weather control sequence, Paul Frees intoned how we can turn "useless" deserts and polar ice caps into pleasant farmland. Frickin' around with the environment isn't really a new or radical concept.

    Given that a desert's borders are always in flux, I'm in principle opposed to reclaiming land from it. I am opposed to whiping it out entirely, since the desert also serves its purposes. My biggest concern is over what they plan on using to reclaim it. Introducing species just makes bigger problems in the end.
     Reply
    Cory Gross was starred Cory Gross was unstarred
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