Podcasts about Ken Caldeira

Send us a textHost Ed Whittingham continues the story behind the development of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology and its potential role in helping to fight climate change. Ed explores the early days of Canadian cleantech company Carbon Engineering, and how it drew the attention of both Bill Gates and Occidental Petroleum. Guests include: Ken Caldeira, senior scientist at Breakthrough EnergyDavid Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon EngineeringSubscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or on your podcast app of choice.Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.comFollow us on: LinkedIn | Bluesky__Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald's podcast network.A special thanks to our friends at the Challenging Climate podcast which is available wherever you find your podcasts.___Energy vs Climatewww.energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

In this discussion from the 2023 SOSV Climate Tech Summit (Sept 26-27, 2023), three scientists working at notable venture funds: Clea Kolster, Partner and Head of Science at Lowercarbon, Ken Caldeira, Senior Scientist at Breakthrough Energy and Susan Schofer, Partner and Chief Science Officer at SOSV's HAX program, discuss the importance of having Phd scientists on venture capital teams and how they play a role in translating technical research into marketable solutions. They also touch on the relationship between science and investment in their respective firms, the need for diverse expertise, and the transition from academia to investing. Overall, they emphasize the importance of combining technical knowledge with market understanding to make informed investment decisions in the field of climate tech. This conversation is moderated by Tim DeChant, Senior Climate Reporter at TechCrunch+. The video of this episode and more can be found online at sosvclimatetech.com. Speakers Ken Caldeira, Senior Scientist, Breakthrough Energy Clea Kolster, Partner and Head of Science, Lowercarbon Capital Susan Schofer, HAX, Partner & Chief Science Officer Moderator Tim DeChant, TechCrunch+, Senior Climate Reporter Credits Producer: Ben Joffe  Podcast Summary: Written by gpt-3.5-turbo, edited by Ben Joffe Intro Voice: Cloned voice of Ben Joffe by ElevenLabs  Intro Music: EL Waili Keywords: #deeptech #venturecapital #climatetech #vc #robotics #lifesciences #biology #hardware #startups #innovation #technology #frontiertech #hardtech

To put it in Bill Gates' words, Ken is phenomenal at translating deeply scientific concepts for people without scientific expertise. Ken Caldeira is Senior Scientist at Breakthrough Energy and Staff Scientist at Carnegie Institution for Science. As an atmospheric scientist, he demystifies the climate impact of hydrogen leakage. Under the motto "I like to say that the questions we ask are driven by our values, the answers we get should be independent of our values”, he brings a valuable unbiased scientific perspective to the topic. 

Ken Caldeira is a senior scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science and is also a senior scientist at Breakthrough Energy. Ken has a wide-spectrum approach to analyzing the world's climate systems - with particular interests in modeling the Earth system and the energy transition, and in using experiments and observation to study our changing coasts and coral reefs. In this episode, Ken takes us through his fascinating journey into environmental and climate science. We dive deep into navigating political influences on environmental research, the technical and social feasibility of the energy transition, and his views on wider underrepresented climate issues.  Links: Ken Caldeira's profile  Ken's Google Scholar profile Episode chapter markers Support the showSubscribe for email updates

Over the last two decades, solar radiation modification has gone from an intellectual experiment to something people are seriously considering, says pioneering climate scientist Ken Caldeira during a C2GTalk. The world needs to understand what would happen if somebody felt the need to cool the Earth rapidly, and that requires the ability for scientists to do more research. "There is a case to limit knowledge acquisition if it would lead to imminent harm," says Caldeira, but this is not the case for solar radiation modification experiments. Ken Caldeira is senior staff scientist (emeritus) with Carnegie Institution for Science, and world famous for his work on the global carbon cycle and climate change. He was a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's fifth assessment report and a co-author of the 2010 US National Academy America's Climate Choices report. Caldeira also participated in the UK Royal Society's geoengineering panel in 2009. He is also senior scientist at Breakthrough Energy, which supports innovation to reach zero carbon emissions. For more, including an edited transcript, please go to C2G's website.

The first of two concluding episodes in Season 5, in which we focus on solutions. In Part 10 of The Repair, we look at the actions and policies that people need to push for —now — to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. Reported by Amy Westervelt. Script editor, Cheryl Devall. Production and mix by John Biewen. Interviews with Kate Marvel, Ken Caldeira, Julian Brave Noisecat, Kate Aronoff, Naomi Klein, Julia Steinberger, Leah Stokes, Heidi Marmon, Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Tara Houska, and Max Berger. Music in this episode by Lili Haydn, Kim Caroll, Chris Westlake, Lesley Barber, Cora Miron, goodnight Lucas, and Maetar. Music consulting by Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.

One of the world's most visionary climate scientists tells Katie & Rose why he thinks nuclear energy is key to quelling climate change and delivering prosperity to the developing world, why he's gone all-positive on Twitter, why considering solar geoengineering won't stop us from addressing climate change, and what he learned from pumping crocodile stomachs as a grad student.

„Über den Wolken, muss die Freiheit wohl grenzenlos sein, alle Ängste, alle Sorgen, sagt man, blieben darunter verborgen...“ für die Anhänger*innen der Chemtrail-Verschwörungstheorien ist dieses Lied vermutlich blanker Hohn, denn sie fürchten das, was über den Wolken angeblich passiert. Aber wie soll das eigentlich sein, was sind diese chemischen Streifen und warum sagt man nicht einfach Kondensstreifen? All das und noch viel mehr besprechen Gold & Silber in dieser Folge #22 von Sur/real. Hört gerne mal rein! P.S. In zwei Wochen sind wir wieder mit einer neuen Folge Sur/real für euch da! Wer bis dahin mehr von uns sehen möchte, Ihr findet uns hier: Instagram @surrealderpodcast Facebook @surrealderpodcast Lasst uns gerne Feedback da, nutzt hierzu die Podcast Plattform eurer Wahl, unsere Social Media Kanäle oder schreibt uns eine Mail an connect@surreal-podcast.com! Show Notes: Studie von Christine Shearer aus dem Jahr 2016 (Englisch): Quantifying expert consensus against the existence of a secret, large-scale atmospheric spraying program, von Christine Shearer, Mick West, Ken Caldeira and Steven J Davis, Published 10 August 2016, in Environmental Research Letters Volume 11 Number 8 Statement des Umwelt Bundesamtes für Mensch und Umwelt: Chemtrails - Gefährliche Experimente mit der Atmosphäre oder bloße Fiktion? Stand: März 2011 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Aircraft Contrails Factsheet, September 2000 (Englisch) Welsbach Patent von 1991 (Englisch) Website von Jörg Lorenz: Chemtrail-Fragen (Deutsch)  hier kann man den Artikel Die Zerstörung des Himmels aus dem Magazin raum&zeit Ausgabe 127/2004 finden

Climate and energy debates rest on predictions. How many years left to save the planet? How cheap will solar power get? We dive into the dirty world of making such projections. What's the difference between climate models and energy system models? What do past forecasts tell us about the accuracy of these models? Hint: there's no shortage of overconfidence.  On Episode 16 of Energy vs Climate, David, Ed, Sara, and special guest Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University debate the use and abuse of models in energy decisions, and share behind-the-scenes insight into how David and Ken helped Bill Gates learn these topics.Tune into the Youtube version of the episode. Get on the email list at www.energyvsclimate.com

In this episode, we get the details on a friendly wager between Ken Caldeira, a senior scientist at the Carnegie Institution, and Ted Nordhaus, founder and executive director of the Breakthrough Institute. Caldeira also is a senior advisor to Gates Ventures, but is not speaking on their behalf. Nordhaus is betting that global CO₂ emissions peaked in 2019, but Caldeira disagrees. Host Daniel Raimi asks each of them to lay out the arguments for and against the assertion that emissions peaked in 2019, and they explore the underlying factors that will likely drive the outcome of the wager. Raimi, Caldeira, and Nordhaus discuss the role of Covid-19, energy technologies, human behavior, and even the extinction of the dinosaurs. References and recommendations: The origin of the bet on Twitter; https://twitter.com/KenCaldeira/status/1344783094553800705?s=20 "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" by Bill Gates; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/633968/how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster-by-bill-gates/ "Growth" by Vaclav Smil; https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/growth

Ken Caldeira, Senior Scientist (Emeritus) at Carnegie Institution for Science and Senior Advisor (Climate Science) at Gates Ventures, joins Hank Paulson to discuss the latest climate science, how to get policymakers to act on climate change, and how geoengineering may be vital to ensuring a livable planet. Ken Caldeira: carnegiescience.edu/scientist/ken-caldeira-emeritus

In today’s episode, we cover:Ken’s journey from making money on Wall Street to making meaning as a scientistThe perceived “information deficit” problem in public policyHow Ken distinguishes his role as a concerned citizen from his work as a scientistHow getting past social identities is a major challenge to effecting changeBill Gates’ support and patronage of Ken’s workThe various climate change research, pursued by Ken’s post-doc graduate studentsThe prospect and viability of a 100% renewable energy modelBill Gates’ notion of a “green premium”Carbon pricing solutionsThe problem of split-incentivesThe viability of geoengineering as a solutionThe need to reframe the problem and solutions to make it palatable for social acceptanceLinks to topics discussed in this episode:Caldeira Lab at the Carnegie Institution: https://carnegieenergyinnovation.org/Steve Schneider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_SchneiderThe Charney Report (1979): https://www.bnl.gov/envsci/schwartz/charney_report1979.pdfManoela Romano De Orte: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/mromanoDavid Koweek: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/dkoweekYixuan Zheng: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/yxzhengEnrico Antonini: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/eantoniniCandise Henry: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/chenryRebecca Peer: https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/people/rpeerVariable renewable energy source (“Intermittency”): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_renewable_energyProf. Mark Jacobson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._JacobsonAdvanced Research Projects Agency: https://arpa-e.energy.gov/

Planning for climate change is particularly difficult because we're dealing with such big unknowns. How, exactly, will the climate change? Who will be affected and how? What new innovations are possible, and how might they help address or exacerbate the current problem? Etc. But we at least know that in order to minimize the negative effects of climate change, we need to make major structural changes — to our energy systems, to our infrastructure, to our power structures — and we need to start now. On the fifth episode of Not Cool, Ariel is joined by Ken Caldeira, who is a climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Department of Global Ecology and a professor at Stanford University's Department of Earth System Science. Ken shares his thoughts on the changes we need to be making, the obstacles standing in the way, and what it will take to overcome them. Topics discussed include: -Relationship between policy and science -Climate deniers and why it isn't useful to argue with them -Energy systems and replacing carbon -Planning in the face of uncertainty -Sociopolitical/psychological barriers to climate action -Most urgently needed policies and actions -Economic scope of climate solution -Infrastructure solutions and their political viability -Importance of political/systemic change

Re-visit our intense discussion on climate change and how it impacts humans and social systems with host and SETI Institute Senior Astronomer Seth Shostak, comic co-host Eugene Mirman, and Ken Caldeira, climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science.NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/get-real-climate-change-seth-shostak-repeat/Photo Credit: NASA/John Sonntag, via http://earthobservatory.nasa.govDon't miss an episode of StarTalk All-Stars. Subscribe on:TuneIn: tunein.com/startalkallstarsSoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/startalk_all-starsApple Podcasts: https://itun.es/us/P9kphb.cStitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/startalk-allstarsGoogle Play Music: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/I2nz5bguurd5se7zu4fhnd25lk4

Re-visit our intense discussion on climate change and how it impacts humans and social systems with host and SETI Institute Senior Astronomer Seth Shostak, comic co-host Eugene Mirman, and Ken Caldeira, climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science. NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/get-real-climate-change-seth-shostak-repeat/ Photo Credit: NASA/John Sonntag, via http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov Don’t miss an episode of StarTalk All-Stars. Subscribe on: TuneIn: tunein.com/startalkallstars SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/startalk_all-stars Apple Podcasts: https://itun.es/us/P9kphb.c Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/startalk-allstars Google Play Music: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/I2nz5bguurd5se7zu4fhnd25lk4

The StarTalk All-Stars investigate climate change, featuring hosts Bill Nye, David Grinspoon, Seth Shostak, and Natalia Reagan; co-hosts Chuck Nice, Eugene Mirman, and Tim Alexander; and guests Radley Horton, Andrew Revkin, Todd Disotell, Ian Tattersall, and Ken Caldeira.NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/climate-change-mashup/Don't miss an episode of StarTalk All-Stars. Subscribe on:TuneIn: tunein.com/startalkallstarsSoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/startalk_all-starsApple Podcasts: https://itun.es/us/P9kphb.cStitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/startalk-allstarsGoogle Play Music: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/I2nz5bguurd5se7zu4fhnd25lk4

The StarTalk All-Stars investigate climate change, featuring hosts Bill Nye, David Grinspoon, Seth Shostak, and Natalia Reagan; co-hosts Chuck Nice, Eugene Mirman, and Tim Alexander; and guests Radley Horton, Andrew Revkin, Todd Disotell, Ian Tattersall, and Ken Caldeira. NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/climate-change-mashup/ Don’t miss an episode of StarTalk All-Stars. Subscribe on: TuneIn: tunein.com/startalkallstars SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/startalk_all-stars Apple Podcasts: https://itun.es/us/P9kphb.c Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/startalk-allstars Google Play Music: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/I2nz5bguurd5se7zu4fhnd25lk4

Gabe & Rick interview with famed climate scientist Dr. Ken Caldiera. Ken Caldeira of the the Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University. Dr. Caldiera speaks about Climate Catastrophism, Geo-engineering, renewable energy and nuclear power in relation to the challenges of adaption and mitigation of climate change and ocean acidification.

Special ShadowCitizen Talk Back Show FIRST HOUR: listeners, Jolie Diane of www.zerogeoengineering.com and Debrah from Rhode Island, called in to discuss reactions to last weeks show with UN IPCC report author Ken Caldeira.   Discussion surrounded the validity of Mr. Calderia’s comments and the official documents that people who are opposed to geoengineering need to become […]

Ken Caldeira has been a Carnegie investigator since 2005 and is world renowned for his modeling and other work on the global carbon cycle; marine biogeochemistry and chemical oceanography, including ocean acidification and the atmosphere/ocean carbon cycle; land-cover and climate change; the long-term evolution of climate and geochemical cycles; climate intervention proposals; and energy technology. […]

Geoengineering may sound like science fiction, but there are many who believe we can — and should — be taking drastic measures to cool our planet down. Oliver Morton, Briefings Editor, The Economist; Author, The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World (Princeton University Press, 2015) Kim Stanley Robinson, Author, 2312 (Orbit, 2012) Ken Caldeira, Climate Scientist, Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on January 28, 2016.

Now that climate change is beyond dispute, StarTalk All-Stars host Seth Shostak is joined by Ken Caldeira, climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and co-host Eugene Mirman to talk about the impact on humans and social systems.NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free. Find out more at https://www.startalkradio.net/startalk-all-access/

Now that climate change is beyond dispute, StarTalk All-Stars host Seth Shostak is joined by Ken Caldeira, climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, and co-host Eugene Mirman to talk about the impact on humans and social systems. NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free. Find out more at https://www.startalkradio.net/startalk-all-access/

Geoengineering may sound like science fiction, but there are many who believe we can — and should — be taking drastic measures to cool our planet down. Oliver Morton, Briefings Editor, The Economist; Author, The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World (Princeton University Press, 2015) Kim Stanley Robinson, Author, 2312 (Orbit, 2012) Ken Caldeira, Climate Scientist, Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on January 28, 2016.

Spray painting the sky to deflect sunlight and cool the earth sounds like science fiction. But could geoengineering buy us time against global warming? Ken Caldeira, Atmospheric Scientist, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford University Albert Lin, Professor, UC Davis School of Law Jane Long, Co-chair, Task Force on Geoengineering, Bipartisan Policy Center Armand Neukermans, Physicist and Inventor This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on May 8, 2015.

Spray painting the sky to deflect sunlight and cool the earth sounds like science fiction. But could geoengineering buy us time against global warming? Ken Caldeira, Atmospheric Scientist, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford University Albert Lin, Professor, UC Davis School of Law Jane Long, Co-chair, Task Force on Geoengineering, Bipartisan Policy Center Armand Neukermans, Physicist and Inventor This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on May 8, 2015.

On the show this week we talk to Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist working for the Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University. He investigates issues related to climate, carbon, and energy systems.In the interview, we focus on geoengineering—the process of making big changes to the Earth’s climatic system in an attempt to solve issues related to climate change.iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943RSS: feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-mindsStitcher: stitcher.com/podcast/inquiring-mindsTumblr: http://inquiringshow.tumblr.com

Solar geoengineering is a proposed approach to reduce the effects of climate change due to greenhouse gasses by deflecting some of the sun’s incoming radiation. This type of proposed solution carries with it a number of uncertainties, however, including geopolitical questions about who would be in charge of the activity and its goals. New modeling work from Carnegie’s Katharine Ricke and Ken Caldeira shows that if a powerful coalition ever decided to deploy a geoengineering system, they would have incentive to exclude other countries from participating in the decision-making process.

Will the longevity of human civilization on Earth be imperiled, or enhanced, by our world-changing technologies? Scientists, humanists, journalists and science-fiction authors convened to answer this question in a daylong symposium. The panel, "Living with Ourselves: Can We Form a Healthy, Stable, Long-term Relationship with Technology and the Biosphere?," includes speakers Seth Shostak, Andrew Revkin, Ken Caldeira and Jacob Haqq-Misra. For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6075

Will the longevity of human civilization on Earth be imperiled, or enhanced, by our world-changing technologies? Scientists, humanists, journalists and science-fiction authors convened to answer this question in a daylong symposium. The panel, "Living with Ourselves: Can We Form a Healthy, Stable, Long-term Relationship with Technology and the Biosphere?," includes speakers Seth Shostak, Andrew Revkin, Ken Caldeira and Jacob Haqq-Misra. For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6074

Will the longevity of human civilization on Earth be imperiled, or enhanced, by our world-changing technologies? Scientists, humanists, journalists and science-fiction authors convened to answer this question in a daylong symposium. The panel, "Living with Ourselves: Can We Form a Healthy, Stable, Long-term Relationship with Technology and the Biosphere?," includes speakers Seth Shostak, Andrew Revkin, Ken Caldeira and Jacob Haqq-Misra. For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6073

Will the longevity of human civilization on Earth be imperiled, or enhanced, by our world-changing technologies? Scientists, humanists, journalists and science-fiction authors convened to answer this question in a daylong symposium. The panel, "Living with Ourselves: Can We Form a Healthy, Stable, Long-term Relationship with Technology and the Biosphere?," includes speakers Seth Shostak, Andrew Revkin, Ken Caldeira and Jacob Haqq-Misra. For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6072

A great deal of research has focused on the amount of global warming resulting from increased greenhouse gas concentrations. But there has been relatively little study of the pace of the change following these increases. A new study by Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira and Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures concludes that about half of the warming occurs within the first 10 years after an instantaneous step increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration, but about one-quarter of the warming occurs more than a century after the step increase.

When evaluating the historic contributions made by different countries to the greenhouse gasses found in Earth's atmosphere, calculations generally go back no further than the year 1840. New research from Carnegie's Julia Pongratz and Ken Caldeira shows that carbon dioxide contributions from the pre-industrial era still have an impact on our climate today.

One idea for fighting global warming is to increase the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere, scattering incoming solar energy away from the Earth’s surface. But scientists theorize that this solar geoengineering could have a side effect of whitening the sky during the day. New research from Carnegie’s Ben Kravitz and Ken Caldeira indicates that blocking 2% of the sun’s light would make the sky three-to-five times brighter, as well as whiter.

Ken Caldeira, climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Dept. of Global Ecology on the Stanford University campus discussing: Pongratz, J., and K. Caldeira, 2012: Attribution of atmospheric CO2 and temperature increases to regions: importance of preindustrial land use change. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 7, 034001 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/034001 http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab http://www.mpimet.mpg.de/en/staff/julia-pongratz.html The underlying paper is available for free download at: http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/7/3/034001/

Could replacing coal-fired electricity plants with generators fueled by natural gas bring global warming to a halt in this century? What about rapid construction of massive numbers of solar or wind farms, hydroelectric dams, or nuclear reactors—or the invention of new technology for capturing the carbon dioxide produced by fossil-fueled power plants and storing it permanently underground? Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures teamed up with Carnegie Institution’s Ken Caldeira to calculate the expected climate effects of replacing the world’s supply of electricity from coal plants with any of eight cleaner options.

Solar radiation management is a class of theoretical concepts for manipulating the climate in order to reduce the risks of global warming caused by greenhouse gasses. But its potential effectiveness and risks are uncertain, and it is unclear whether tests could help narrow these uncertainties. A team composed of Caltech's Doug MacMynowski, Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira and Ho-Jeong Shin, and Harvard's David Keith used modeling to determine the type of testing that might be effective in the future

It is difficult to measure accurately each nation’s contribution of carbon dioxide to the Earth’s atmosphere. Carbon is extracted out of the ground as coal, gas, and oil, and these fuels are often exported to other countries where they are burned to generate the energy that is used to make products. In turn, these products may be traded to still other countries where they are consumed. A team led by Carnegie’s Steven Davis, and including Ken Caldeira, tracked and quantified this supply chain of global carbon dioxide emissions

Decisions by farmers to plant on productive land with little snow enhances the potential for reforestation to counteract global warming, concludes new research from Carnegie’s Julia Pongratz and Ken Caldeira. Previous research has led scientists and politicians to believe that regrowing forests on Northern lands that were cleared in order to grow crops would not decrease global warming. But these studies did not consider the importance of the choices made by farmers in the historical past.

Accurately calculating the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the process of producing and bringing products to our doorsteps is nearly impossible, but still a worthwhile effort, two Carnegie researchers claim in a commentary published online this week. The Global Ecology department’s Ken Caldeira and Steven Davis commend the work of industrial ecologist Glen Peters and colleagues, published in the same journal late last month, and use that team’s data to do additional analysis on the disparity between emissions and consumption in different parts of the world.

Climate change from black carbon depends on altitude Scientists have known for decades that black carbon aerosols add to global warming. These airborne particles made of sooty carbon are believed to be among the largest man-made contributors to global warming because they absorb solar radiation and heat the atmosphere. New research from Carnegie’s Long Cao and Ken Caldeira, with colleagues, quantifies how black carbon’s impact on climate depends on its altitude in the atmosphere.

Ambassador RENO L. HARNISH III, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs DIANA FARRELL, Director, McKinsey Global Institute KEN CALDEIRA, Scientist, Carnegie Institution Department of Global Ecology Bush Administration Assistant Secretary of State and Climate Change authority Ambassador RENO L. HARNISH III headlines a panel of experts who will examine the next steps in addressing the crisis. This comes on the heels of last week’s conference in Honolulu that made global headlines. Later this year, Harnish will lead the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008), which will bring together government, civil society and private business leaders to deliberate the benefits and costs of a major and rapid scale-up in the global deployment of renewable energy technology. WIREC will specifically look at developing an overall policy towards reducing greenhouse gas intensity globally. The Honolulu event followed the much-publicized negotiations in Bali in December, which ended with an 11th hour, worldwide consensus on a roadmap for reducing carbon emissions. What happens next? Many tough issues are at stake, including which countries should reduce carbon emissions the most and how much they should rely on either market forces or government regulation. Commonwealth Club V.P Greg Dalton who orchestrated this event said, “We are honored to assemble such a high profile and esteemed group to explore these critical and timely issues. Our hope is that this discussion will generate some viable solutions in this ongoing global dialogue.” Ambassador Harnish previously led U.S. policy on scientific and environmental cooperation with the new independent states of the Soviet Union and was Environment, Science and Technology Counselor for the U.S. Embassy in Rome. Diana Farrell directs the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), an economics research arm of the international consulting giant. Ken Caldeira does extensive research on climate change at the Carnegie Institution Dept. of Global Ecology and is an op-ed contributor for the New York Times. This program was recorded in front of a live audience on February 7, 2008