17:30 - 20:00 25 September 2013
This academic year is off to a flying start as we announce another seminar. Prof Clive Hamilton, Charles Sturt University will present Earthmasters: Playing God with the Climate.
Spraying sulphur compounds into the upper atmosphere to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet? Transforming the chemistry of the world’s oceans so they soak up more carbon? These ideas sound like science fiction but technologies to ‘geoengineer’ the planet are being developed now. In this lecture Clive Hamilton will outline the technologies and their risks, and explain the coalition of forces (scientists, entrepreneurs, think tanks) now backing climate engineering as a response to global warming. He argues that the momentum to embark on geoengineering will become irresistible as the planet warms because emission cuts will come too late. The IPCC’s next report, which for the first time will evaluate geoengineering as a response to climate change, will add to this momentum.
The seminar will start promptly at 5.30pm at Central House, please make sure you arrive in plenty of time.