Workshop on Climate Interventions

King Tide swamps Siuslaw North Jetty.\Photo courtesy of ORKingTides.

While not specific to Oregon or the West Coast, an online workshop offered by the National Academies of Sciences might be of interest to anyone concerned about climate change and efforts to combat it. “Climate Intervention in an Earth Systems Science Framework: A Workshop” takes place on two days, Tuesday, June 20, 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and Thursday, June 22, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To register for the workshop, go here.

Many climate “interventions,” such as those that involve major manipulations of the atmosphere, are deeply worrisome to conservationists; others, such as promoting wider growth of seagrasses and seaweeds, are very promising. (Those particularly concerned with ocean issues, from seeding the oceans with nutrients to promote greater biological activity to protecting natural habitats, will want to focus on the second day, when these topics will be discussed.) Here is a link to the full agenda.

In the description by the organizers:

“Climate intervention techniques are increasingly technically feasible, but remain highly controversial due to their transboundary nature, their risks of unintended harmful impacts, and the presence of fundamental ethical concerns. Advancing understanding of the potential efficacy, cascading environmental and social impacts, and societal acceptability of climate intervention requires broad public engagement and ongoing collaboration across a diverse spectrum of expertise. This virtual workshop draws on the recent National Academies report Next Generation Earth Systems Science at the National Science Foundation to present climate intervention as an integrative but expansive framework, encompassing both natural and social processes. This convening will create a dialogue covering the human, physical, and technical dimensions of climate interventions, and will situate these considerations within the context of convergent research and the capacities of the National Science Foundation.”

For more information, contact Margo Corum at mcorum@nas.edu.