Nano Needed for Gas Relief

Current levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere are higher now than at any time in the last 650,000 years.

That is the conclusion of new European studies looking at ice taken from 3km below the surface of Antarctica.

From a story yesterday on BBC News:

"We find that CO2 is about 30% higher than at any time, and methane 130% higher than at any time; and the rates of increase are absolutely exceptional: for CO2, 200 times faster than at any time in the last 650,000 years," said project leader Thomas Stocker from the University of Bern, Switzerland.

Another study reported in the same journal claims that for the last 150 years, sea levels have been rising twice as fast as in previous centuries.

"The main thing that's changed since the 19th Century and the beginning of modern observation has been the widespread increase in fossil fuel use and more greenhouse gases," said Kenneth Miller from Rutgers University.

This is not good news, but it is additional evidence to confirm the belief that anthropogenic climate change is a very real and very serious problem.

To get relief from rising sea levels, increased storm severity, climate-related health problems and more, our greatest hope may be advanced nanotechnology.

Mike Treder

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog

Comments

[jbash]

Um, I think you mean "anthropogenic"...

[Mike Treder, CRN]

Oops, you're right. D'oh! I've made the change from anthropocentric to anthropogenic.

Thanks, jbash.

[michael e vassar]

Is yet MORE evidence of greenhouse warming really MNT relevant? If someone is likely to be convinced, they already are convinced. Regardless, policy isn't infinitely flexible. The difference between the best plausible policies and the worst plausible policies can't make a substantial difference to global warming in the time remaining until MNT is developed, at which point it will be a moot point. Let's keep on topic.
If global warming is relevant, it is relevant only as a reminder of one thing, the utter implausibility of coordinateing national or global behavior to prevent even risks that the scientific community accepts overwhelmingly, even given billions of dollars for propaganda (by which I don't mean lies per se, but rather arguments chosen to convince the masses rather than for logical coherence) and decades for organization. This is yet another example, though not a good example, of the implausibility of society as a whole preparing for MNT.

[Mike Treder, CRN]

Michael, I worry that you are right about this example -- potentially disastrous climate change -- casting doubt on the plausibility of preparing for MM in time.

On the other hand, the United States is not the world. The U.S. is the only significant nation that refuses to accept responsibility for dealing with this problem. Ironically, everyone else is united.

So, in spite of the appalling scientific illiteracy and troubling corporate control over lawmaking in the U.S., there may be hope that the rest of the world will join together in an effort to safely develop and responsibly use MM.