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rfmcdonaldThe Dragon's Tales linked to a remarkable arXiv paper by Jacob Haqq-Misra, "Should we geoengineer large ice caps?". The abstract is below.
Part of this reminds me of the episodes of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns found out that he was deathly ill with any number of diseases, but that they counterbalanced each other enough to let him live.
More relevantly, these are the sorts of decisions that people managing the environments of highly engineered worlds are going to have to make. This includes our dear Earth.
The climate of Earth is susceptible to catastrophes that could threaten the longevity of human civilization. Geoengineering to reduce incoming solar radiation has been suggested as a way to mediate the warming effects of contemporary climate change, but a geoengineering program for thousands of years could also be used to enlarge the size of the polar ice caps and create a permanently cooler climate. Such a large ice cap state would make Earth less susceptible to climate threats and could allow human civilization to survive further into the future than otherwise possible. Intentionally extending Earth's glacial coverage will require uninterrupted commitment to this program for millenia but would ultimately reach a cooler equilibrium state where geoengineering is no longer needed. Whether or not this program is ever attempted, this concept illustrates the need to identify preference among potential climate states to ensure the long-term success of civilization.
Part of this reminds me of the episodes of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns found out that he was deathly ill with any number of diseases, but that they counterbalanced each other enough to let him live.
More relevantly, these are the sorts of decisions that people managing the environments of highly engineered worlds are going to have to make. This includes our dear Earth.
