There was an old Star Trek episode years ago (NG) called “Who Watches the Watchers” and that episode come to mind when it comes to climate change geoengineering. Those planning to geoengineer our way out of climate change are making plans supposedly to “save the world” which is a noble cause, but who is saving us from them?   There are no current regulations against what they are doing and planning  (other than regular laws) and no one to stop these people from launching their private experiments that could irreparably change or harm our climate, sea, or land.  There was even a recent convention called The Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention Technologies in California, which just ended on Friday, March 26th. Have we had the convention yet where it’s decided whether geoengineering the climate is a good idea? The conference was sponsored by the admirable-sounding “Climate Response Fund“.

The UNFCCC and world government leaders are meeting on a regular basis to decide what to do about climate change and though they are not making any real apparent headway yet, that doesn’t mean a bunch of rogue scientists can plan to alter the atmosphere of the planet on their own, without oversight.  Climate Intervention News is reported on their site, and it’s very interesting that this is all going on under the radar of most of the media.  Does any of this make you nervous?  It should.*  Our first mission is to cut GHG emissions, not change the ecosystems of the planet.  From the Blue Marble: Bad Fixes.

“Tinkering with the Earth and its atmosphere in an attempt to fend off global warming—a.k.a. geoengineering—seems like the stuff of science fiction: Lacing the stratosphere with sulfur aerosols or whitening clouds over the ocean to reflect sunlight back into space. Fertilizing the oceans with iron to help them absorb more carbon dioxide. It’s big science on a comic-book scale, and as such, it carries no small dose of risk and controversy.

“Some of these technologies seem inappropriate,” Victor Menotti, director of the International Forum on Globalization, told MoJo at a press briefing Thursday. “There’s a sort of scientific arrogance that these experiments will be manageable. But before we get into talking about a Plan B, we want to get back to how we can cut emissions.”

“People think this is still science fiction, but it’s not,” added Silvia Ribeiro, program manager for ETC Group, an environmental advocacy organization. “Science [magazine] said this conference was like geoengineering coming out of the closet.”

She’s referring to the Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention Technologies, where I’ve spent the past week schmoozing some of the field’s top researchers. ETC Group has circulated a letter—signed by dozens of like-minded organizations—questioning the entire conference and the motives of its attendees. (You can download the group’s report here.) Quoting the conference’s stated goal, Ribeiro [...]

Rising sea levels have claimed another island, this one in the Bay of Bengal.

Marine patrols have confirmed that New Moore Island is now totally submerged beneath the surface of the water.  This isn’t the first island to disappear under water.  In 1996, another island called Lohachara was submerged and it forced the inhabitants to move to the mainland.

Global Warming Ends Border Dispute

A 30-year-long argument between India and Bangladesh was abruptly resolved after rising oceans claimed a tiny island in the Bay of Bengal.

Several other islands in the Bay of Bengal, pictured below left, are currently under threat from rising sea levels as a result of climate change.

“For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island’s gone.

New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said.

“What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming,” said Hazra.”

Bay of Bengal -- Photo source: Getty Images

WATCH VIDEO: Ralph Keeling has spent 20 years in the family business: studying climate change. His father pioneered CO2 monitoring in 1958.

Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal.

Until 2000, the sea levels rose about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) a year, but over the last decade they have been rising about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) annually, he said.

Another nearby island, Lohachara, was submerged in 1996, forcing its inhabitants to move to the mainland, while almost half the land of Ghoramara island was underwater, he said. At least 10 other islands in the area were at risk as well, Hazra said.

“We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more island areas come under water,” he said.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 150 million people, is one of the countries worst-affected by global warming. Officials estimate 18 percent of Bangladesh’s coastal area will be underwater and 20 million people will be displaced if sea levels rise 1 meter (3.3 feet) by 2050 as projected by some climate models.

India and Bangladesh both claimed the empty New Moore Island, which is about 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) long and 3 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide. Bangladesh referred to the island as South Talpatti.”

Read more here

Will this be the coast of Florida in 10 years, or the east coast in general, or your favorite vacation island?