« A 3-minute fairy tale of mixed emoticons: Rives on TED.com | Main | TEDTalk from the vaults: Blog godmother Mena Trott on TED.com »
28 October 2008
Climate geo-engineering tactics, ranked by cost, risk, awfulness
Last fall, scientist and provocateur David Keith offered one of the most conversation-provoking TEDTalks ever -- calmly discussing ideas for geo-engineering our climate that border on shocking (like shooting a cloud of sulphurous particles into the stratosphere to simulate the cooling effects of a major volcanic eruption). It's a scary subject, but as Keith pointed out, someone, someday, is going to think that major geo-engineering is a very good idea. (As a commenter said just this morning: "/sigh.")
Now Philip Boyd of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Dunedin, New Zealand, takes the next step in the New Scientist, and ranks the major ideas in geo-engineering by risk, cost, speed of implementation, and how well they would work. The chart above comes from Nature Geoscience, which is behind a paywall, but the kind bloggers at The Great Beyond share it.
Discuss this Blog Post
Loading Comments... 
Become a Fan of TED
on Facebook
Follow TED on Twitter:
@TEDNews | @TEDTalks
Subscribe to TED RSS feeds:
TED Blog | More RSS Options
Recent Comments
BiG007BosS on Meet Anwar Dafa-Alla, TED translator
jzurawell on LHC back in action
abhijitchauhan on East vs. West -- the myths that mystify: Devdutt Pattanaik on TED.com
CassieZ on Jim Fallon on CBS' Criminal Minds tonight!
satyadev on The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology: Pranav Mistry on TED.com
Restlesswriter on TED loves classical music
kvinkal on An interview with Pranav Mistry, the genius behind Sixth Sense
pickyouruggs on The surprising spread of "Idol" TV: Cynthia Schneider on TED.com
rajveetee on "Success is a continuous journey": Richard St. John on TED.com
rajveetee on "Success is a continuous journey": Richard St. John on TED.com
News from TED
Learn about TEDIndia conference >>
Find all our posts about TEDGlobal 2009 >>
Follow the TED Fellows blog >>
Throw your own TED-style event with TEDx >>
TED takeaway
TED ringtones:
TEDTalks Classic tune in [mp3] [m4r]
TEDTalks Phase II tune in [mp3] [m4r]
Subscribe to TED's weekly newsletter
Get the latest news on the TED Prize on TEDPrize.org >>
Archives
TED Bloggers
Chris Anderson | Curator
June Cohen | Director of TED Media
Amy Novogratz | TED Prize Director
Tom Rielly | Community
Bruno Giussani | TED European Director
Jason Wishnow | Director, Film + Video
Emily McManus | Editor, TED.com
Matthew Trost | Assistant Editor, TED.com
Shanna Carpenter | Writer and Community Organizer, TED.com
Diego Rodriguez | Guestblogger
Jane Wulf | TED Scribe
Blogs we watch
+ TEDPrize.org
+ TED Fellows blog
+ Thomas Dolby | TED Musical Director, blogging at ThomasDolby.com
+ Emeka Okafor | TEDAfrica Director, blogging at Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained
+ The indispensable Global Voices
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Powered by Movable Type
