Climate science and technology policy since 1989. Building Climate Systems Engineering @UChicago. Founded Carbon Engineering. Bluesky: @davidkeith.bsky.social
2/3 Chicago & 1/3 Canmore
Joined September 2015
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New paper: "Solar Geoengineering: History, Methods, Governance, Prospects" by @parson_ted & me in Annual Reviews.
Full text at: davidkeith.earth/publication…
I am particularly proud of this paper. This thread provides some highlights:
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My colleague Dan Fabrycky has found new orbits for space dust that could shade Earth. Here he is in the latest CSEi Research Spotlight video: youtu.be/ch0xScOpu4A
I remain excited by the breadth of interest in climate engineering among @UChicago faculty and the diversity of research ideas.
See our funded research here: climateengineering.uchicago.…
Some thoughts, if you care about Alberta's place in Canada...
@acoyne's column nailed it: theglobeandmail.com/opinion/…
Some choice quotes:
"Just 8% favoured secession itself, even in principle, based on the gauzy fantasies – an effortless break followed by eternal prosperity – spun by the secessionist campaign...After months of debate, fewer Albertans support secession than believe the moon landings were faked."
Or, if you prefer a video that harks back to Monty Python's "What have the Romans ever done for us..." check out @22_Minutes: youtu.be/i4XbgH7igns
Proud of the @UChicago undergrads who designed and built PASCAL, an instrument to measure stratospheric aerosols, and got it flying on @NASA’s HASP balloon at 37 km. The flight was cut short, but it opens a pathway to a new way to measure them. climateengineering.uchicago.…
Today I’m in Reykjavík for a major meeting on climate stabilization (aka geoengineering). After almost 40 years working on these topics, it’s a thrill to see so many new faces and new ideas. globalstabilization.org/
Shout out to CMU's Engineering & Public Policy dept, which quite literally made my career. @CMU_EPP alums here: @JaiAsundi (runs @CSTEP_India, ~200-person thinktank, Bangalore), Shuchi Talati (runs Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering), @katericke (Scripps/UCSD)
My wife, Kirsten Anderson, and I are finally getting organized about giving away the money we made when Carbon Engineering was sold. Our platform is Luminen, Finnish for snow-covered, after our love of the cold outdoors. Learn more: luminen.ca/
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After a career spent almost entirely on climate, I’m excited to work on reducing the risk of nuclear war. This week in Ottawa we’re convening a wide range of activists on nuclear security and disarmament, hoping to help accelerate their work in Canada.
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What’s “Climate Systems Engineering”? Ben Peltz and I explain why @UChicago uses the term in a new essay on @SRM360_org: srm360.org/perspective/what-…
As I head to Iceland to talk “climate stabilization,” here’s why we prefer our term:
Stabilization is a fine policy goal, but a poor name for a field. It excludes decarbonization, which is central to any real stabilization. And it lumps slow, durable carbon removal with fast-acting sunlight reflection, blurring distinctions that matter.
Renaming won’t make solar geo less controversial. As @sapinker's “euphemism treadmill” shows, stigmas follows the concept not the word. Researchers should pick names close to value-neutral. “Climate systems engineering” describes a discipline, not a goal.
nytimes.com/1994/04/05/opini…
On May 18–19, the @UChicago Climate Systems Engineering initiative is bringing together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for a public symposium we're calling "Frontiers in Climate Systems Engineering.”
The goal is simple: rigorous analysis and open debate.
May 18 starts with an introductory overview and policy discussions. Presentations on May 19 will be tilted towards science and technology with more expert-oriented discussions.
If you’re interested in how these ideas are evolving and how they might (or might not) fit into climate policy, I hope you’ll join us.
Register and learn more here: climateengineering.uchicago.…
Enjoyed my conversation on SRM360's webinar/pod yesterday. Check it out here:
srm360.org/video/emissions-c…
