Discussions regarding proposals to reverse some of the climate effects of greenhouse gas emissions by means of direct intervention in the climate system (for example, by engineering a reduction in the amount of sunlight absorbed by the Earth).

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This "Geoengineering" group (http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering) is designed to meet the needs of working professionals in academia, research laboratories, and the policy world. It is designed to transmit information and and act as a forum to discuss research results, new ideas, and so on, at the level of an intelligent graduate student in a related discipline. This group focuses on direct intervention in Earth's energy balance (longwave and shortwave radiation, ocean heat storage, etc) but includes discussion ways to remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

There is a complementary group called "Climate Intervention" (http://groups.google.com/group/climateintervention) that is designed to meet the needs of concerned citizens more generally. It is recommended that people who are new to this discussion first pose their questions and comments by writing an email to <climateintervention@googlegroups.com>, and only submit the question or comment to <geoengineering@googlegroups.com> if the issue is not adequately addressed in the "Climate Intervention" group.

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Discussions should focus on intentional intervention in climate processes and may consider science, engineering, politics, ethics, economics, or other dimensions.  Discussions of proposals to intervene in planetary processes at large scale, or modify climate at any scale, are also welcome.

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GUIDELINES FOR POSTING TO THE GEOENGINEERING GOOGLEGROUP

1. ALL POSTS MUST ADDRESS INTENTIONAL INTERVENTION IN THE CLIMATE SYSTEM. General posts on climate, the carbon cycle, carbon capture and storage, human nature, etc, should be submitted to <climateintervention@googlegroups.com>.

2. ALL POSTS MUST ADD NEW INFORMATION, RAISE A NEW ISSUE, ASK AN INFORMED QUESTION, OR PRESENT AN INFORMED OPINION. [ You can always send you comment or question to <climateintervention@googlegroups.com>. ]

3. NO POST MAY MAKE AN AD HOMINEM ATTACK OR SPECULATE ABOUT SOMEBODY ELSE'S MOTIVATION.

4. PLEASE SIGN YOUR POST WITH YOUR REAL NAME AND PREFERABLY ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFORMATION.

5. PLEASE RESPOND WITH ON-TOPIC POINTS WITHIN A SINGLE DISCUSSION (i.e., same subject line). TO DISCUSS AN UNRELATED TOPIC, PLEASE START A NEW DISCUSSION WITH A FRESH EMAIL WITH A NEW SUBJECT LINE.

6. PLEASE LIMIT THE NUMBER OF POSTS THAT YOU MAKE THAT DO NOT PROVIDE USEFUL INFORMATION. Multiple emails in a single day that do not contain new information will be regarded as an abuse of the posting privilege. New members will be held to a higher standard than long-term members. In general, newer members will have the privilege of making at most a few posts per week.

THIS WILL BE A MODERATED EMAIL GROUP. Moderation will enforce these guidelines and eliminate other abuses (advertising, foul language, etc).  Moderation decisions may be arbitrary but are nevertheless not subject to appeal.

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Please be polite and respectful. It is OK to exhibit ignorance and wrongheadedness once in a while. It is not OK to be impolite or disrespectful when pointing out someone else's ignorance and wrongheadedness. Somewhat arbitrary and ineffective attempts at moderation are being made by Ken Caldeira (kcaldeira@stanford.edu).