Gathering

I went to the International Carbon Dioxide Conference, held at a plush hotel between a strip mall and a vast expanse of golf course outside Denver, to present some of my work. The conference was dedicated to the memeory of Dave Keeling, who had started the first regular measurements of rising carbon dioxide levels at Mauna Loa in Hawai'i almost fifty years ago and who died last summer. The oceanographer Ken Caldeira, now at the Carnegie Institute, gave an opening overview, focusing on the changing chemical state of the oceans (carbon dioxide makes them more acid) and also arguing quite reasonably that unchecked fossil-fuel burning will radically change Earth's climate and probably lead to all the ice sheets melting within a few thousand years. People were pessimistic that much will be done soon to reduce energy requirements and switch to other fuels, though some scientists suggested starting or becoming involved in local groups such as the Boulder Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Working Group.