Climate intervention (also climate engineering, geoengineering) means deliberate, man-made strategies for reducing global temperatures by utilizing different technologies; for instance by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it, or by increasing the amount of sunlight being reflected back into space. Climate intervention does not, however, replace the need to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Professor Katharine L. Ricke from the University of California,
USA will give two public lectures on sunlight reflection methods of climate
intervention in August in Lapland. The first lecture will take place in Rovaniemi,
the Arktikum house (Pohjoisranta 4) on Wednesday 17 August 2016 at 14–14.45, and the
second lecture in Sodankylä at the Sodankylä Municipal Hall (Jäämerentie 1) on
Thursday 18 August 2016 at 14–14.45. The lectures will be in English, but copies of
the presentation in Finnish will be available on site.

After the lecture, the participants are invited to participate in a focus group
discussion on community-specific viewpoints of climate intervention. In the
discussion, the participants will explore their own questions, ideas, and issues of
concern they have concerning climate intervention, from the viewpoints of Lapland or
their own field of expertise or livelihood. Previous knowledge about climate
intervention is not required, as Professor Ricke will give an introduction to the
topic in the beginning of the event. The focus group discussion will be held in
Finnish and it is estimated to last for about an hour.

The
lectures are open for all, but the organizers hope the participants would register
their participation in the interview by Friday 12 August, if possible, by email to
ilona.mettiainen(at)ulapland.fi.

Climate is warming more
rapidly in the Arctic than elsewhere, and the Arctic is expected to face
particularly strong impacts. Moreover, Arctic climate change is expected to
accelerate climate change also elsewhere on the planet. Concern has also been
expressed over how Arctic local communities can adapt to climate change.
Consequently, climate change mitigation is nowadays taken seriously globally, which
is seen for instance in the historical Paris climate agreement achieved in December
2015. On the other hand, high hopes have been expressed in the business
opportunities that could open up as the Arctic sea ice melts.

So far, there is very little research conducted on local communities’
viewpoints on climate intervention. A team from Cornell University, USA is now
studying this in the Arctic in collaboration with the Arctic Centre of the
University of Lapland and other international research groups. The purpose of the
study is to increase understanding of the issues and viewpoints that Arctic local
communities find important to be considered in climate intervention, in order to
support further modelling and societal decision-making on the issue.

More information:

Researcher Holly Buck
Cornell University
hjb84(at)cornell.edu

Researcher Ilona Mettiäinen
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
040 484 4273,
ilona.mettiainen(at)ulapland.fi

LaY/AK/JW
& IM