Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

[CE News]

Is there a new study or is it just another conclusion from what we have on MCB?

Nils

 

---

 

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604211/scientists-consider-brighter-clouds-to-preserve-the-great-barrier-reef/

 

Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

As bleaching devastates the critical ecosystem for a second year in a row, marine scientists are getting desperate.

• by James Temple
• April 20, 2017

• 14
•  
•  
•  
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A group of Australian marine scientists believe that altering clouds might offer one of the best hopes for saving the Great Barrier Reef.

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For the last six months, researchers at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and the University of Sydney School of Geosciences have been meeting regularly to explore the possibility of making low-lying clouds off the northeastern coast of Australia more reflective in order to cool the waters surrounding the world’s biggest coral reef system. 

During the last two years, the Great Barrier Reef has been devastated by wide-scale bleaching, which occurs as warm ocean waters cause corals to discharge the algae that live in symbiosis with them. Last year, as El Niño events cranked up ocean temperatures, at least 20 percent of the reef died and more than 90 percent of it was damaged.

The Australian researchers took a hard look at a number of potential ways to preserve the reefs. But at this point, making clouds more reflective looks like the most feasible way to protect an ecosystem that stretches across more than 130,000 square miles, says Daniel Harrison, a postdoctoral research associate with the Ocean Technology Group at the University of Sydney. “Cloud brightening is the only thing we’ve identified that’s scalable, sensible, and relatively environmentally benign,” he says.

Bleached corals on the Great Barrier Reef.

Ed Roberts/Tethys Images | ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies

They’re one of several research groups that have started to explore whether cloud brightening, generally discussed as a potential tool to alter the climate as a whole, could be applied in more targeted ways. All the scientists involved stress that the research is in its infancy. No one has tested a system for cloud brightening at all, much less in geographically focused applications.

British scientist John Latham first proposed the idea as a potential way of controlling global warming in Nature nearly 30 years ago. The theory is that fleets of ships could spray tiny salt particles, generated from sea water, toward the low-lying marine clouds that hug the coasts of several continents. That would provide the nuclei needed to induce additional droplet formation, expanding the total surface area of the clouds. The resulting dense, white clouds should reflect more heat back into space. A 2012 study led by Latham at the University of Manchester found that the approach could offset the heating that would result if carbon dioxide doubled in the atmosphere.

The Marine Cloud Brightening Project, a collaboration between a group of Silicon Valley researchers and University of Washington climate scientists, has done the most advanced work on the idea to date. The team in Sunnyvale, California, has spent the last seven years developing a nozzle that they believe can spray salt particles of just the right size and quantity to alter the clouds. They’re attempting to raise several million dollars to build full-scale sprayers, in hopes of eventually conducting small-scale field trials at some flat point along the Pacific coastline—ideally a place with onshore winds, low-lying clouds, and open-minded neighbors. 

The Marine Cloud Brightening Project's nozzle sprays a fine mist of tiny salt particles.

JAMES TEMPLE

They’re among a handful of researchers looking to conduct limited outdoor experiments to explore the feasibility and risks of such approaches (see “The Growing Case for Geoengineering”). But while the prospect of using geoengineering to ease global warming on a large scale poses intractable governance issues, using the technology to address a more localized problem could be more feasible, at least politically.

Coral reefs are crucial parts of the ocean ecosystem, providing hunting grounds and homes for thousands of species. They also generate nearly $200 billion in economic value annually, through tourism, fisheries, and other activity, according to one study. Reefs, however, have been hard hit worldwide by ocean acidification, pollution, overfishing, and other environmental stresses. The Great Barrier Reef has shrunk dramatically during the last three decades.

That makes it increasingly urgent to seriously explore ways of preserving the reefs, even “fairly out-there, grand schemes,” Harrison says. Next month, he plans to start computer climate modeling to explore whether cloud brightening could make a big enough temperature difference to help. The group plans to collaborate on the research with the Marine Cloud Brightening Project team.

Should scientists try to save the Great Barrier Reef by brightening the clouds?

Tell us what you think.

Coral reefs aren’t the only ecosystem that some scientists believe might need help from geoengineering. Researchers at the University of California, the Carnegie Institution, Stanford University, and Oregon State University have begun a larger project exploring, among other things, how climate change is affecting or will affect the last remaining stands of coast redwoods. 

They're the world's tallest trees, and rely on coastal fog for around half of their moisture. But Northern California fog levels have dropped more than 30 percent since the early 20th century, a decline linked to urbanization and climate change. The impact has been limited to date, but fear is growing that these old-growth stands could be wiped out if the trends accelerate.

Elliott Campbell, an associate professor of environmental engineering at UC Merced, says the group has held early talks with the Marine Cloud Brightening Project about whether the technique could generate more low-lying clouds to help feed moisture to the redwoods. “If we could artificially produce fog on summer mornings, and that could help us buy the redwoods more time as we shift to a less carbon-intensive economy, that’s potentially a good thing,” Campbell says.

Aerial view of a bleached portion of the Great Barrier Reef.

ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies

Ken Caldeira, a prominent climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution who has modeled the potential of cloud brightening, says the idea of localized geoengineering is worth exploring. But he’s not convinced that cloud brightening could produce a substantial climate effect at such a limited level. Below a certain geographic footprint, probably around 10,000 square miles, it might be difficult to produce a big enough change in cloud density to add up to much of a difference, he says. He’s specifically skeptical that it would work at the Great Barrier Reef.

“I just don’t think there are enough clouds of the right type there that would be susceptible to marine cloud brightening,” he says.

The University of Sydney’s Harrison is aware of the concerns Caldeira raises and intends to look at these issues closely in his feasibility research. But at a first pass, he believes there could be sufficient marine clouds to help preserve the Great Barrier Reef.

In any case, he hopes so, because nothing else looks particularly promising.

 

[Andrew Lockley]

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604211/scientists-consider-brighter-clouds-to-preserve-the-great-barrier-reef/

• A scientist surveys bleaching damage on the Great Barrier Reef.
• TANE SINCLAIR-TAYLOR | ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE CORAL REEF STUDIES

Sustainable Energy

Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

As bleaching devastates the critical ecosystem for a second year in a row, marine scientists are getting desperate.

• by James Temple
•  
• April 20, 2017

Agroup of Australian marine scientists believe that altering clouds might offer one of the best hopes for saving the Great Barrier Reef.

For the last six months, researchers at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and the University of Sydney School of Geosciences have been meeting regularly to explore the possibility of making low-lying clouds off the northeastern coast of Australia more reflective in order to cool the waters surrounding the world’s biggest coral reef system. 

During the last two years, the Great Barrier Reef has been devastated by wide-scale bleaching, which occurs as warm ocean waters cause corals to discharge the algae that live in symbiosis with them. Last year, as El Niño events cranked up ocean temperatures, at least 20 percent of the reef died and more than 90 percent of it was damaged.

The Australian researchers took a hard look at a number of potential ways to preserve the reefs. But at this point, making clouds more reflective looks like the most feasible way to protect an ecosystem that stretches across more than 130,000 square miles, says Daniel Harrison, a postdoctoral research associate with the Ocean Technology Group at the University of Sydney. “Cloud brightening is the only thing we’ve identified that’s scalable, sensible, and relatively environmentally benign,” he says.

Bleached corals on the Great Barrier Reef.

ED ROBERTS/TETHYS IMAGES | ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE CORAL REEF STUDIES

They’re one of several research groups that have started to explore whether cloud brightening, generally discussed as a potential tool to alter the climate as a whole, could be applied in more targeted ways. All the scientists involved stress that the research is in its infancy. No one has tested a system for cloud brightening at all, much less in geographically focused applications.

British scientist John Latham first proposed the idea as a potential way of controlling global warming in Nature nearly 30 years ago. The theory is that fleets of ships could spray tiny salt particles, generated from sea water, toward the low-lying marine clouds that hug the coasts of several continents. That would provide the nuclei needed to induce additional droplet formation, expanding the total surface area of the clouds. The resulting dense, white clouds should reflect more heat back into space. A 2012 study led by Latham at the University of Manchester found that the approach could offset the heating that would result if carbon dioxide doubled in the atmosphere.

The Marine Cloud Brightening Project, a collaboration between a group of Silicon Valley researchers and University of Washington climate scientists, has done the most advanced work on the idea to date. The team in Sunnyvale, California, has spent the last seven years developing a nozzle that they believe can spray salt particles of just the right size and quantity to alter the clouds. They’re attempting to raise several million dollars to build full-scale sprayers, in hopes of eventually conducting small-scale field trials at some flat point along the Pacific coastline—ideally a place with onshore winds, low-lying clouds, and open-minded neighbors. 

The Marine Cloud Brightening Project's nozzle sprays a fine mist of tiny salt particles.

JAMES TEMPLE

They’re among a handful of researchers looking to conduct limited outdoor experiments to explore the feasibility and risks of such approaches (see “The Growing Case for Geoengineering”). But while the prospect of using geoengineering to ease global warming on a large scale poses intractable governance issues, using the technology to address a more localized problem could be more feasible, at least politically.

Coral reefs are crucial parts of the ocean ecosystem, providing hunting grounds and homes for thousands of species. They also generate nearly $200 billion in economic value annually, through tourism, fisheries, and other activity, according to one study. Reefs, however, have been hard hit worldwide by ocean acidification, pollution, overfishing, and other environmental stresses. The Great Barrier Reef has shrunk dramatically during the last three decades.

That makes it increasingly urgent to seriously explore ways of preserving the reefs, even “fairly out-there, grand schemes,” Harrison says. Next month, he plans to start computer climate modeling to explore whether cloud brightening could make a big enough temperature difference to help. The group plans to collaborate on the research with the Marine Cloud Brightening Project team.

Should scientists try to save the Great Barrier Reef by brightening the clouds?

Tell us what you think.

Coral reefs aren’t the only ecosystem that some scientists believe might need help from geoengineering. Researchers at the University of California, the Carnegie Institution, Stanford University, and Oregon State University have begun a larger project exploring, among other things, how climate change is affecting or will affect the last remaining stands of coast redwoods. 

They're the world's tallest trees, and rely on coastal fog for around half of their moisture. But Northern California fog levels have dropped more than 30 percent since the early 20th century, a decline linked to urbanization and climate change. The impact has been limited to date, but fear is growing that these old-growth stands could be wiped out if the trends accelerate.

Elliott Campbell, an associate professor of environmental engineering at UC Merced, says the group has held early talks with the Marine Cloud Brightening Project about whether the technique could generate more low-lying clouds to help feed moisture to the redwoods. “If we could artificially produce fog on summer mornings, and that could help us buy the redwoods more time as we shift to a less carbon-intensive economy, that’s potentially a good thing,” Campbell says.

Aerial view of a bleached portion of the Great Barrier Reef.

ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE CORAL REEF STUDIES

Ken Caldeira, a prominent climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution who has modeled the potential of cloud brightening, says the idea of localized geoengineering is worth exploring. But he’s not convinced that cloud brightening could produce a substantial climate effect at such a limited level. Below a certain geographic footprint, probably around 10,000 square miles, it might be difficult to produce a big enough change in cloud density to add up to much of a difference, he says. He’s specifically skeptical that it would work at the Great Barrier Reef.

“I just don’t think there are enough clouds of the right type there that would be susceptible to marine cloud brightening,” he says.

The University of Sydney’s Harrison is aware of the concerns Caldeira raises and intends to look at these issues closely in his feasibility research. But at a first pass, he believes there could be sufficient marine clouds to help preserve the Great Barrier Reef.

In any case, he hopes so, because nothing else looks particularly promising.

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Tagged

Ken Caldeira,geoengineering, clouds,Great Barrier Reef, Daniel Harrison, Australia

James TempleSenior Editor, Energy

I am the senior editor for energy at MIT Technology Review. I’m focused on renewable energy and the use of technology to combat climate change. Previously, I was a senior director at the Verge, deputy managing editor at Recode, and columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle. When I’m not writing about energy and climate change, I’m often hiking with my dog or shooting video of California landscapes.

[Stephen Salter]

Hi All

Ken says there might not be enough clouds to save the barrier reef.

Below should be a map from Kari Alterskjaer from  doi:10.5194/acp-12-2795-2012  showing how good different regions are through the seasons.

The very best red ones of California, Peru and Namibia score 0.12 but the much larger white areas are 0.085 show the best are only 40% better.

Further more the life time of nuclei under clear skies will be longer so a high cloud fraction is less important.  We should not let the best become  the enemy of the quite good.

I got some data about flow rates into the  Barrier Reef region from a PhD thesis by Severine Choukroun from

https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/24024/  

The key number is 23 km3 per day.  If anyone can give me other  numbers please do.  If following Kohler you believe that the right size of mono-disperse spray will give a high nucleation fraction and that some other assumptions are reasonable then the calculations below will tell you how many spray vessels would be needed to cool the Barrier Reef.

However another paper from Norway

DOI:10.1029/2010JD014015

suggests that my mono-disperse spray assumption does matter because spray with the Aitken mode size distribution works in the wrong direction.

Stephen

Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design. School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, Scotland S.Sa...@ed.ac.uk, Tel +44 (0)131 650 5704, Cell 07795 203 195, WWW.homepages.ed.ac.uk/shs, YouTube Jamie Taylor Power for Change

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[Russell Seitz]

Dear Stephen:

I hasten to point out that your analysis of  cloud  cooling  of  23km3  from the top down applies equally to microbubble cooling SRM from the bottom up.

Last year, after meeting with UNEP coral conservtionist Tom Goreau I visiited several  reef damage redmediation sites in the Grenadines, where though  emphasis has been on replanting , widespread bleaching has also led to interest in sea surface cooling.

As  bothh ocean and lake models suggest the fresh water  techniques we are developing to curb  fresh water reservoir evaporation can realitstically  achieve coolings of 5 K or more, and  the energy cost per hectare is reckoned to be a kilowatt or less, a continouous multimegawatt reduction in solar load may be an afforable alterative to your admittedly better developed cloud nucleation work.  

It shoud be noted that many South China  Sea  reefs  face thermal stresses approaching those of the GBR as well -  in both cases ecologists should explore the addvantages and hazards of brightening the water instead of dimming  the sun.

Best regards 

Russsell Seitz

Senior Fellow

The Climate Institute

[Ken Caldeira]

Coral bleaching is also associated with stress from sunlight, coupled with high temperatures, etc.

Wikipedia:  Some scientists consider bleaching a poorly-understood type of "stress" related to high irradiance; environmental factors like sediments, harmful chemicals, and freshwater; and high or low water temperatures.^[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching

See section 4.1.2 of this document: https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/reef_managers_guide/reef_managers_guide_ch4.pdf

It is common to see the sun-exposed tops of coral colonies with severe bleaching, with the shaded sides doing reasonably well.

Deflecting sunlight away from the ocean waters would likely have direct protective properties beyond the cooling effect.

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/18949/20151224/cloudy-waters-shade-corals-excess-sunlight-helping-survive-climate-change.htm

Ken Caldeira

Carnegie Institution for Science

Dept of Global Ecology

260 Panama St

Stanford CA 94305 USA

+1 650 704 7212

http://CarnegieEnergyInnovation.org

http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab

Assistant, with access to incoming emails: Jess Barker jba...@carnegiescience.edu

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[Andrew Lockley]

I don't think hydrosols will behave like CNN, in terms of their radiative properties. As I understand it, CCN act to brighten existing cloud cover. They won't, therefore, work on cloudless days. Likely, relative efficacy will depend on whether acute or chronic thermal stress is most important. Furthermore, hydrosols will cause a lasting increase in diffuse radiation. In terrestrial models, this has impacted NPP.

I'm no expert on this niche - but that's my initial thoughts.

Hope it helps

A

[Stephen Salter]

Russell

I am in complete agreement with you and can fit your foam-making plant in the present design of vessel. It might be useful to string a foam hose between two vessels some distance apart so as to cover a wide area.

Stephen

Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design. School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, Scotland S.Sa...@ed.ac.uk, Tel +44 (0)131 650 5704, Cell 07795 203 195, WWW.homepages.ed.ac.uk/shs, YouTube Jamie Taylor Power for Change

[Stephen Salter]

Andrew

I agree that Twomey needs actual clouds. But a lower cloud fraction means a longer nuclei life and a wider spread. Because of the log term it is better to use a lower dose over a wider area.  Cloudless days are OK especially if clever meteorologists can pick air masses upstream of the reef which will become cloudy later. Spray vessels will all have email.

I checked with Earth Now on my I Pad.  Clouds are not bad today.

Stephen

Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design. School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, Scotland S.Sa...@ed.ac.uk, Tel +44 (0)131 650 5704, Cell 07795 203 195, WWW.homepages.ed.ac.uk/shs, YouTube Jamie Taylor Power for Change

[Michael Hayes]

Hi Folks,

The top/down approach is needed.

I would like to point out that one of Greg Rau's early papers was on the subject of pumping deep cold water up to coral reefs to protect them from heat.

It is now known that artificial upwelling will also bring up nutrients and CO2, neither of which are needed by the coral. As such, if that nutrient and CO2 rich water is first conducted through an enclosed marine biomass operation, leaving no more than cold water for the coral, Greg's idea becomes viable.

MCB and Brightwater should both play an important role, in concert with confined marine biomass production, in protecting coral reefs.

The sale of the marine biomass/biochar should be able to pay for both MCB and Brightwater operations.

Best regards,

Michael

[Greg Rau]

Just to be clear, the upwelling-to-cool-corals idea was lead author Hollier's (attached).  My contribution was to consider adding alkalinity generation to this scheme.

Greg

---

From: Michael Hayes <vogle...@gmail.com>
To: geoengineering <geoengi...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 12:49 AM
Subject: Re: [geo] Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

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[Stephen Salter]

Hi All

Cold water pumped to the surface will sink quite quickly.   It is also possible to pump warm surface water down at places up stream of the coral with all the energy coming from wave action.  I can send a paper to anyone who asks.  I understand that a test tank model will be shown by Discovery Channel on 9 May at 10 pm EST in a programme called 'can we hack the planet'.

Stephen

Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design. School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, Scotland S.Sa...@ed.ac.uk, Tel +44 (0)131 650 5704, Cell 07795 203 195, WWW.homepages.ed.ac.uk/shs, YouTube Jamie Taylor Power for Change

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to geoengineerin...@googlegroups.com.

[Russell Seitz / Bright Water]

Tnaks to Michael for reminding me that  Japan has  enjoyed success in clearing Yokohama harbor of  invasive algal mats by deploying high-density oxygenating microbubble generators--  this began outside the context of  geoengineering  , and afte nearly a decade,  so far no complaints and many compliments from local marine bioogists on restored biodiversity . This is  the  closly watched area  near the berth of Japan's tall ship. Nippon.

[Veli Albert Kallio]

Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

 

I would like to add that there are naturally occurring surface rising currents that bring nutrients and CO2 to surface i.e. along the coast of Chile. The viability of Greg's idea is not spoiled by some CO2 emerging from the deep ocean. Not at all. The problem should be formulated around the question whether quantitatively speaking enough cold water can be put to the surface to make a difference for corals to survive during the heat waves. In my view. some people sadly have a difficulty to distinguish between driver-processes and respondent-processes that ride on the back of something else. CO2 coming along with the water isn't the driving phenomenon or something like a self-sustaining feedback loop of importance. Far from it! Equally speaking we could say that force of gravity exists where there are presence of weak and strong nuclear forces, and forces of electromagnetism. Does gravity change essentially any of these other process. Nope. The question therefore remains whether enough cold water could be skimmed off ocean streams through tubing or mechanical pumping, to either preserve an entire system, or area where biodiversity could be preserved for future when ocean temperatures would be down enough to allow species' reintroduction. 

---

From: geoengi...@googlegroups.com <geoengi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Greg Rau <gh...@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: 28 April 2017 09:42
To: vogle...@gmail.com; geoengineering

Subject: Re: [geo] Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

Just to be clear, the upwelling-to-cool-corals idea was lead author Hollier's (attached).  My contribution was to consider adding alkalinity generation to this scheme.

Greg

---

From: Michael Hayes <vogle...@gmail.com>
To: geoengineering <geoengi...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 12:49 AM
Subject: Re: [geo] Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

Hi Folks,

The top/down approach is needed.

I would like to point out that one of Greg Rau's early papers was on the subject of pumping deep cold water up to coral reefs to protect them from heat.

It is now known that artificial upwelling will also bring up nutrients and CO2, neither of which are needed by the coral. As such, if that nutrient and CO2 rich water is first conducted through an enclosed marine biomass operation, leaving no more than cold water for the coral, Greg's idea becomes viable.

MCB and Brightwater should both play an important role, in concert with confined marine biomass production, in protecting coral reefs.

The sale of the marine biomass/biochar should be able to pay for both MCB and Brightwater operations.

Best regards,

Michael

 

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[Veli Albert Kallio]

Most coral reefs have a lagoon which is like a bowl. The lagoon protects also from sharks coming from ocean to lagoon. The coldness would be absorbed by corals. If the cold water is pumped near coast by the time it reaches outer reach of lagoon it will have warmed and done its job by cooling the corals. The only place where the cold water sinks is corals themselves and those we are just trying to save from heat. 

---

From: geoengi...@googlegroups.com <geoengi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Stephen Salter <S.Sa...@ed.ac.uk>
Sent: 28 April 2017 10:41
To: geoengi...@googlegroups.com

[Michael Hayes]

Vali,

I've run across many such micro environmental systems. The technology to deploy a versatile reef protection package is understood. The development of profit generation concepts, to support reef infrastructure that meets mitigation and adaptation measures, has been, regrettable, the Tail End Charlie of deployment related discussions.

More than a few outstanding business profit models can be offered yet cultivation of basic marine biomass, using excess upwelled nutrients and the cold water, offers the most basic path to sustainable environments and profits.

The greatest need, at this time, is to find funding to deploy prototype systems so as to produce properly detailed analysis of this large basket of STEM. 

With a realistic start-up funding level, equivalent to a new moderate sized seiner ($600K) per site, a greater profit can be demonstrated over that of typical inshore/reef fishing gear, while providing a robust list of environmental services to the reef.

Farming basic marine biomass, using biorock armored bioreactor arrays within the reef system(s) is workable. 

Best regards,

Michael

On Friday, April 28, 2017, Veli Albert Kallio <albert...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Most coral reefs have a lagoon which is like a bowl. The lagoon protects also from sharks coming from ocean to lagoon. The coldness would be absorbed by corals. If the cold water is pumped near coast by the time it reaches outer reach of lagoon it will have warmed and done its job by cooling the corals. The only place where the cold water sinks is corals themselves and those we are just trying to save from heat. 

---

From: geoengi...@googlegroups.com <geoengineering@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Stephen Salter <S.Sa...@ed.ac.uk>

Sent: 28 April 2017 10:41
To: geoengi...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [geo] Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

Hi All

Cold water pumped to the surface will sink quite quickly.   It is also possible to pump warm surface water down at places up stream of the coral with all the energy coming from wave action.  I can send a paper to anyone who asks.  I understand that a test tank model will be shown by Discovery Channel on 9 May at 10 pm EST in a programme called 'can we hack the planet'.

Stephen

Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design. School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, Scotland S.Sa...@ed.ac.uk, Tel +44 (0)131 650 5704, Cell 07795 203 195, WWW.homepages.ed.ac.uk/shs, YouTube Jamie Taylor Power for Change

On 28/04/2017 09:42, Greg Rau wrote:

Just to be clear, the upwelling-to-cool-corals idea was lead author Hollier's (attached).  My contribution was to consider adding alkalinity generation to this scheme.

Greg

---

From: Michael Hayes <vogle...@gmail.com>

To: geoengineering <geoengineering@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 12:49 AM
Subject: Re: [geo] Scientists Consider Brighter Clouds to Preserve the Great Barrier Reef

Hi Folks,

The top/down approach is needed.

I would like to point out that one of Greg Rau's early papers was on the subject of pumping deep cold water up to coral reefs to protect them from heat.

It is now known that artificial upwelling will also bring up nutrients and CO2, neither of which are needed by the coral. As such, if that nutrient and CO2 rich water is first conducted through an enclosed marine biomass operation, leaving no more than cold water for the coral, Greg's idea becomes viable.

MCB and Brightwater should both play an important role, in concert with confined marine biomass production, in protecting coral reefs.

The sale of the marine biomass/biochar should be able to pay for both MCB and Brightwater operations.

Best regards,

Michael

 

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Michael Hayes

The Cascadia Marine and Limnology Laboratory

 

[Veli Albert Kallio]

I would suggest initial work being focused for developing assisted biodiversity refugia by pumping cold water to small areas to prevent extinction of species. This would be easiest to apply in areas where there are nearby strong cold currents that could be forced by scoop to rise to surface by tubing and pumping. If the idea works and delivers a positive outcome, then the areas could be gradually expanded. It would not be a panachea for warming itself, but just to mitigate its impact much the same way waters are oxygenated in the Baltic Sea to keep fish alive. The oxygenation is being done in many smaller water bodies like lakes and rivers, the same way cold water pumping to keep corals alive could be made using the natural energy of ocean current to force the cold water up through the tubes.

The biggest obstacle is the political will to do anything about the climate impacts. As long as it does not smell in front of our noses, our wastes do not seem to matter for far too many people like Donald Trump. Spending and consuming is all in all.

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From: Michael Hayes <vogle...@gmail.com>
Sent: 07 May 2017 19:28
To: albert...@hotmail.com
Cc: geoengineering

[Michael Hayes]

Veli,

It may be more economic than policy, yet policy clearly is important. If revenue generating adjunct functions are designed in, the policymakers are far more motivated to work with this level of long term ecosystem(s) intensive care efforts.

Many such duel mission operations are open. The front end high risk investors would have multiple levels in which to approach this.

The reef intensive care effort can be and must be economically self sustaining as it must be environmentally self sustaining.

Michael

On Saturday, May 13, 2017, Veli Albert Kallio <albert...@hotmail.com> wrote:

I would suggest initial work being focused for developing assisted biodiversity refugia by pumping cold water to small areas to prevent extinction of species. This would be easiest to apply in areas where there are nearby strong cold currents that could be forced by scoop to rise to surface by tubing and pumping. If the idea works and delivers a positive outcome, then the areas could be gradually expanded. It would not be a panachea for warming itself, but just to mitigate its impact much the same way waters are oxygenated in the Baltic Sea to keep fish alive. The oxygenation is being done in many smaller water bodies like lakes and rivers, the same way cold water pumping to keep corals alive could be made using the natural energy of ocean current to force the cold water up through the tubes.

The biggest obstacle is the political will to do anything about the climate impacts. As long as it does not smell in front of our noses, our wastes do not seem to matter for far too many people like Donald Trump. Spending and consuming is all in all.