Coming Climate Crisis?

Claire L. Parkinson is a senior fellow and climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where she has worked for more than 30 years. An award-winning scientist, she is especially well known for her research on polar sea ice and its connections to the broader climate system, which is complemented by her role as Project Scientist for the Aqua satellite mission. She is the author of several books, including Earth from Above: Using Color-Coded Satellite Images to Examine the Global Environment and Our Changing Planet: The View from Space. She lives in the Washington, DC, area.

• Part I: The Earth System and Its Ever-Changing NatureChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: 4.6 Billion Years of Global ChangeChapter 3: Abrupt Climate ChangePart II: The Human FactorChapter 4: A Short History of Human ImpactsChapter 5: The Future: Why Some People Are So Concerned while Others Aren'tPart III: Good Intentions and GeoengineeringChapter 6: Good Intentions Gone AwryChapter 7: Geoengineering SchemesChapter 8: The Record on Smaller-Scale Attempted ModificationsPart IV: Further Cautionary ConsiderationsChapter 9: The Possible Fallibility of Even a Strong ConsensusChapter 10: The Unknown Future: Model LimitationsChapter 11: Compounding Social PressuresPart V: Avoiding Paralysis despite UncertaintyChapter 12: What Are the Alternatives?Chapter 13: Closing Plea

Climatologist Parkinson (Earth From Above), a senior fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, warns against the 'massive geoengineering schemes,' currently under consideration by government and advocacy groups, which are meant to avert impending climate catastrophe, but which themselves may have disastrous unintended consequences. Looking at past examples—from Egypt’s massive Aswan Dam, which has spread parasitic diseases and is eroding the fertile delta, to the addition of lead to internal combustion engines and paint—Parkinson worries that fixes under discussion today, like capturing and storing carbon waste or introducing sulfur into the stratosphere to reflect solar heat may actually cause problems 'far worse than the damage that we are already causing.' Instead, Parkinson recommends a moderate approach—limiting population growth; replacing fossil fuels with solar, nuclear, and wind power; changing consumption patterns—while more ambitious plans are carefully evaluated for safety and feasibility. She also raises the possibility that, despite present scientific consensus, predictions of impending catastrophe rest too heavily on climate models that are 'far from perfect.' This thoughtful treatment of a highly controversial subject merits careful attention from the powers that be, and those who wish to influence them.