CCRC - Center for Climate Repair at Cambridge

What?

Summary

Notes

Reasearch on:

  1. Deep and rapid emissions reduction
  2. carbon capture
  3. Restoring part of the climate system that already poses a risk to humanity: freeze the arctic
    1. Enhanced freezing
    2. Marine Cloud Brightening
image

Video

Sir David King - Founder and Chair, The Center for Climate Repair at Cambridge

  • Climate Repair!
  • Melting of artic is going faster than expected: 3.5C above.
    • Positive feedback loop: ice melts / lakes are blue / absorb more energy
    • We are already where we said we should not be. (>2C)
  • Polar Vortex is meandering (coldest place is in Canada last winter for example, not the north pole)
  • Methane emitted by permafrost: not an urgent problem
    • Another example: Pictures of craters formed by methane "explosions". Very visual. 1000 have formed by 2018. Not yet an impact ...
  • The highest risk we have today:
    • In the middle of this: Greenland. There is more loss of ice than expected.
      • Full melting: 500y
      • By end of century: sea level rise because of it could be 2-3m
        • 🤔
        Double check that with IPCC... IPCC says 10cm
    • South East Asia will be the most impacted region by sea level rising + hurricanes
    • Djakarta will not be liveable by mid century ... this is why they are moving the capital!
      • 🤔
      Good angle here on the new capital of Indonesia ... seems like a Folly ... it's adaptation
    • 200-300M people in this part of the world will not be able to live where they live today
    • Rice production is at risk as well
    • ASEAN countries: awareness at gvmt level is rising
  • Carbon Capture
    • We want to imitate natural processes = Biomimicry
    • Ocean Surface Iron Fertilisation: based on winds coming in from the Sahara
      • London protocol for dumping at sea (the US is not a member)
      • We need a full UN protocol under the UN. Moratorium and allow experiments
      • Cost: we will create additional fish stocks ... / Iron or sand is inexpensive. We can make a profit!
      🤔
      Good angle here with the sand from Sahara But this is dismissed by IPCC
  • Cloud Brightening for refreezing the arctict
    • This is a risk management exercise
    • Far far cheaper than the risk of letting it run
  • Time is not on our side! We need to start doing this in the next few years
  • This can be a positive movement for social justice
  • We want to make sure we have global permission for everything we do
  • Today Geoengineering is more referring to SRM
    • We need a concerted effort to involve the people the most impacted by SRM (in the arctic regions) in curating the solution:
    • Local solutions (like cloud brightening) might be more expensive, but also more acceptable + you are not locking into a multi year problem / can be switched off
  • If all emissions stopped today. How long would it take for the climate to settle back to an optimum level for humanity?
    • temp rise will continue for next 20-30 years
    • back down to 350ppm? end of century?
  • If we continue with consumerism ... we will not make it
  • Strategies focused on CH4?
    • Converting to CO2: then you stop worrying about sequestration (you let the CO2 in the atmosphere) and still have a big impact
    • Siemens Energy is involved. Photocatalysis in the desert
  • Resources are stretched!