The CO2 Antarctic Pumpdown (CAP) geoengineering concept is not like most of the other geoengineering ideas. For the most part, prior geoengineering proposals have relied on modifying or scaling up existing earth processes. For instance, the "green" geoengineering idea is to plant and grow huge amounts of christmas trees and other kinds of plants. The idea is that as the earth creates huge amounts of biomass, the plant growth pumps down CO2 from the atmosphere. The so-called "Pinatubo" geoengineering concept suggests that by intentionally adding huge amounts of SO2 to the atmosphere, humans can induce global cooling similar to the transient cooling that is produced by huge volcanic eruptions. The idea of adding iron to the oceans to fertilize marine microfauna is based on the theory that more dust was transported to the oceans during ice ages. The idea of painting roof tops white to reflect sunlight is built upon observations of natural albedo variations. Ways to generate more cloud cover and the idea of putting a giant parasol into outer space to block the sun are based on effects of natural clouds.
The CO2 Antarctic Pumpdown idea is a different kind of animal. Rather than trying to scale up or accelerate natural processes, I am suggesting that it may be necessary to think outside the box and apply industrial processes on a huge scale to mitigate the effects of future global warming. Obviously no one wants to do this kind of thing. The only reason to consider ideas like CAP is that (1) earth's climate is alread being modified by industrial processes like manufacturing, coal-fired power plants, natural gas leaks from pipelines, and especially from the CO2 released from internal combustion engines. And (2) continued CO2 release will eventually produce dangerous climate changes if nothing is done to remove the CO2 or counteract the effects of global warming.
And thats where planetary geoengineering comes in.
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