In the New York Review of Books, Freeman Dyson reviews two recent ones about global warming, but his review is mostly shaped by his own rather selective vision. 1. Carbon emissions are not a problem because in a few years genetic engineersThere is a lot of criticism of Dyson's article here - a lot of it probably valid. But some people seem to be writing off everything Dyson says based upon his involvement with the pie-in-the-sky Orion Project.
will develop “carbon-eating trees” that will sequester carbon in soils.
There was nothing intrinsically wrong with the Orion concept. It might not be the best engine design we have (and would probably never be usable in our atmosphere) but it is a good idea.
We should take our own advice, and stick to talking about our areas of expertise - leave the nuclear physics to the nuclear physicists ;).
Generally, I imagine that the trees Dyson talks about are probably somewhere in our future - the question is whether the trees would come quick enough to stop problems if we just go on with business as usual.
There is no reason not to pursue ideas like this - all ideas should be pursued to some degree. The danger lies in reliance upon one solution alone.
2 comments:
The science of climate change is strong: that the excess CO2 from fossil-fuels will continue to warm the Earth for generations to come.
Just imagine how we would feel if several thousands of years ago the Babylonians had had a couple of centuries of cheap energy and left us with inheriting a degraded, despoiled, polluted planet with massively diminished biodiversity and a particularly unpleasant climate, with violent storms.
Would we feel cheated about the dreadful legacy that had been left by the Babylonians?
Would we feel that they had selfishly sacrificed our future and the planet for their greedy short-term benefit?
Would we consider them selfish and uncivilized?
If the answers to these questions are all 'yes', then we know how we ought to behave.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children.”
@amoeba - if you read this post (or most of my others) with any degree of attention, you'll see that I agree with you on the strength of the evidence for climate change.
Post a Comment