Geo-engineering « NextNature.net

Posts Tagged ‘Geo-engineering’

Anthropo-scene #1: From Rocks to Thoughts

This is the first in a 10-part series where renowned journalist and biologist Christian Schwägerl discusses the many ramifications of the concept of the “Anthropocene”.

Paul Crutzen’s idea of a dawning geological epoch shaped by us humans – the Anthropocene – is going viral. Since I presented it at the Next Nature Power Show in 2011, the top guys at the United Nations have endorsed the concept. A group of smart scientists led by Jan Zalasiewicz of Leicester University announced that, by 2017, they will reach a verdict of whether our current epoch will be officially re-named. Many initiatives have started exploring this new way of thinking about humanity’s place in and on Earth. Here our “ride into the Anthropocene” continues. I want take you to 10 places where the human mind, “nature” and technology fuse in this yet unexplored newness.

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Christian
on 29/04/13 Comments »
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- Anthropocene | Geo-engineering | manufactured-landscapes
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NASA Might Give the Moon a Mini-Moon

Think the moon looks lonely up there? In a decade or so, NASA may add a tiny playmate to keep the moon company. Last April, researchers from the Keck Institute for Space Studies presented a proposal to “capture” an asteroid and drag it into the moon’s orbit. The moon’s new mini-moon would provide NASA astronauts with a laboratory for studying the feasibility of mining asteroids for metals, using their oxygen, hydrogen and carbon to refuel spacecraft, and for figuring out ways to prevent a Cretaceous-style extinction event. Compared to the moon, the 500 ton, 20-foot asteroid would not be very big, but would be a feat of engineering to astonish the world.

Via Discover Magazine.
Allison Guy
on 18/01/13 Comments »
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- Fake-for-Real | Geo-engineering | Hypernature | manufactured-landscapes
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Christian Schwägerl – Riding the Anthropocene

Christian Schwägerl, biologist, correspondent for Der Spiegel and writer of the book Menschenzeit, introduces us into the Anthropocene, a geologic term that marks the significant global impact of human activities on the Earth’s ecosystems.
Van Mensvoort
on 17/03/12 Comments »
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- Anthropocene | Geo-engineering | manufactured-landscapes
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Retro-futuristic Weather Machine

Geo-engineering avant la lettre. This is what 19th century people thought a 21th century weather machine would look like. This retro-futuristic postcard was produced around 1900 by Hildebrands – a leading German chocolate company of that time. Unsure whether the device was envisioned to run on steam. Via Paleo Future.
Van Mensvoort
on 24/07/11 Comments »
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- Geo-engineering | manufactured-landscapes | Technorhetoric
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Negative Islands

Recent flooding along the Mississippi River has broken records first set 70 years ago. As always, it’s hard to attribute local weather to global patterns, but the heavier rainfall in the region is consistent with scientists’ predictions for global warming. While climate change may already be wiping out whole island nations in the South Pacific, it’s also indirectly responsible for a strange type of manmade atoll: the negative island. To greater or lesser success, some forward-thinking homeowners have constructed DIY levees to protect their houses from the overflowing Mississippi.

These tiny pieces of dry land are actually lower than the surrounding waters, going against the natural topographical order of higher-is-drier. Such single-serving levees can be seen as a sign of human hubris, the consequence of modernism’s belief that natural systems can be made rational, predictable, and safe. From another perspective, the anti-islands can be seen as a temporary river archipelago, an emerging next natural phenomenon. It’s a strange subversion of the modus operandi of suburban life: Don’t forget to stock the backyard feeder for the migrating fish, and remember to invite the neighborhood kids over for a stroll in the below-ground walking pool.

Images via Popsci.
Allison Guy
on 26/05/11 Comments »
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- Fake-nature | Geo-engineering | manufactured-landscapes | Suburban Utopia | The-map-is-the-territory
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<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/10035505">http://www.vimeo.com/10035505</a>
Whether or not we should engineer the Weather

“Owning the Weather” is a documentary about geo-engineering by Robert Greene. It’s about whether or not we should engineer the weather and the different impacts that this has. And not only because we can, but also because actually we are already doing so.

“There are more than fifty active weather modification programs in the United States alone. Through the eyes of key individuals on the front lines of a crucial but largely unknown debate, the film introduces the cloud seeders struggling for mainstream recognition, the ‘legitimate’ scientists who doubt them, and the activists who decry any attempts to mess with Mother Nature.”
-Source: www.owningtheweather.com
Minke Kampman
on 28/08/10 Comments »
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- Geo-engineering | Guided Growth | manufactured-landscapes | Technorhetoric
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Nine Strategies of Geo-engineering

Recently some scientists in Britain have recommend planetary ‘geoengineering‘ to avoid climate change. And as politicians are listening, it is time to explore the options. New Scientist published this rather lovely diagram of the effectiveness and viability of nine different geoengineering schemes, from space mirrors to planting reflective crops.

Although geoengineering might be a viable escape from an overheated planet, before we dive in the game of deliberately manipulating the Earth’s climate to counteract the effects of global warming, let us realize that maakbaarheid is never finished: Every cultivation of nature typically causes the rising of a next nature that is wild and unpredictable as ever. Just like the inventor of the fridge did not anticipate a hole in the ozon layer, we should be bracing ourselves for some serious side effects of geoengineering.

Perhaps rather than desperately attempting to stop all changes in the climate, we should as a culture gain more of a flexibility towards a constantly mutating environment. After all, change happens.
Van Mensvoort
on 15/02/10 Comments »
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- Biopolitics | Geo-engineering | Guided Growth | manufactured-landscapes | Technorhetoric
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<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/5837597">http://www.vimeo.com/5837597</a>
Pimp My Planet

“We live in a time where everything or everyone can be upgraded or ‘pimped’. After the worldwide acceptance of plastic surgery, it was time to subject our worldly possessions (Pimp my Ride) and digital identities (Facebook) to an esthetical and/or functional upgrade. So it’s likely that eventually everything will be pimp-able. Even our own planet.”

The PIMP MY PLANET video, created the good people of Studio Smack, explores the possibilities of redesigning our planet according to ideals or aesthetic values. It is the wet dream of every modernist – I bet Mondriaan would have liked this – and then you wake up and realize that maakbaarheid is never finished and with every attempt to cultivate nature, a next nature arises that is wild and unpredictable as ever.

Related: If the implications of Global Warming were fair, Fight climate change, hack the planet, Ancient Man impacted environment already, Doggerland – mapping a lost world, Unfolding the Earth.
Van Mensvoort
on 21/12/09 Comments »
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- Geo-engineering | Guided Growth | Hypernature | manufactured-landscapes | Recreation | Technorhetoric
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Wrapping Greenland

The Discovery series ‘Ways to save the planet’ the episode ‘Wrapping Greenland‘ shows how Dr. Jason Box uses reflective blankets to cover glaciers in Greenland. Due to global warming glaciers start melting causing land to flood. Dr. Jason Box argues that it is expensive to use blankets to cover all glaciers, but that it is more expensive to reorganize all coast lines.

Maybe we should make the expenses, as we ourselves have caused global warming. Maybe we should take another leap in evolution, just as our ancestors the Sapiens did to survive in constant changing conditions. But should we then focus on preventing the changes, or should we focus on adapting flexibly to them?

Related: If the implications of global warming were fair, Fight climate change, hack the planet, Doggerland – Mapping a lost world, Artificial ‘trees’ should stop climate change, Diesels global warming ready campaign, Let the Dutch bury the carbon, Humans to blame for global warming.
kbohre
on 27/10/09 1 Comment »
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- Design-for-debate | Designed-by-Evolution | Geo-engineering | manufactured-landscapes
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Artificial ‘Trees’ to Stop Climate Change

The British researchers conclude that the climate is changing so quickly, without geo-engineering we will be impossible to stop it. The use of artificial trees is number one on their list of recommendations.

The technology behind the artificial trees, which should filter CO2 from the air, is currently being developed. The present-day prototypes are able to retrieve a thousand times more CO2 from the air than a regular tree.

The ‘trees’ are about the size of a sea container (!) – should be an interesting addition to the landscape, here is a picture of an actual prototype. Researchers believe they will be able to mass-produce them soon and expect they will be part of our landscape within ten to twenty years.

Via BBC, NY Times. Related: Windmill trees, Cellphone Treemasts, Fight climate change, hack the planet, Let the Dutch bury the carbon, Humans to blame for global warming, Doggerland – Mapping a lost world, If the implications of global warming were fair, Global Warming Ready Campaign.
Van Mensvoort
on 27/08/09 6 Comments »
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- Bionics | Biopolitics | Fake-nature | Geo-engineering | Green Blues | manufactured-landscapes | Technorhetoric
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Hail Control Gun

A single hail storm can destroy the year’s harvest. For over 25 years, this gun has been used by vine and fruit growers in France, Spain, Austria and Belgium for one purpose: control nature.
The guns functioning is argued by scientists (it is difficult to prove its results) but already 150 years ago farmers in the Alps used primitive manually controlled versions that worked on carbide. So if it could not make the hail disappear, at least the bang would scare some crows.

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Arnoud van den Heuvel
on 09/03/08 Comments »
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- Geo-engineering | Technorhetoric | Wild-systems
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Fight climate change: Hack the Planet

Lots of clouds this week. The peculiar picture above shows the eruption of mount Pinatubo in 1991, which apparently resulted in a certain amount of global cooling (next to some serious negative effects). If a vulcano can do that, why not humans?

Environmental scientist David Keith talks about a cheap, effective, shocking solution to climate change (TED video): What if we injected a huge cloud of ash into the atmosphere, to deflect sunlight and heat? As an emergency measure to slow a melting ice cap, it could work. Keith discusses why it’s a good idea, why it’s a terrible one — and who, despite the cost, might be tempted to use it.

Via Beyond the Beyond. See also: Clear Blue Sky, Cloud producing Cloud, Super Mario Cloud, Blur Building, Humans to blame for Global Warming.
Dr Natural
on 05/01/08 1 Comment »
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- Anthropocene | Biopolitics | Geo-engineering | Guided Growth | Hypernature | Made-to-debate | manufactured-landscapes | Technorhetoric
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Posts Tagged ‘Geo-engineering’

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