Professor David Keith | |
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Citizenship | Canada, United States, and United Kingdom [1] |
Alma mater | University of Toronto (1986), MIT (1991) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Applied physics, energy and climate |
Institutions | Carnegie Mellon University, University of Calgary, Harvard University, University of Chicago |
Website | keith |
External videos | |
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"Can We Cool the Planet?", Nova , October 28, 2020 | |
"Solar Geoengineering: Public Policy and Geopolitical Considerations", talk to the IIEA, September 25, 2019 | |
"As planet warms, scientists explore 'far out' ways to reduce atmospheric CO2" on YouTube, PBS NewsHour March 27, 2019 (with animation of SCoPEx) | |
"Patient Geoengineering", talk to the Long Now Foundation, May 10, 2020 |
David W. Keith is a professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. He joined the University of Chicago in April 2023. Keith previously served as the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics for Harvard University's Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and professor of public policy for the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. [2] Early contributions include development of the first atom interferometer (considered a major breakthrough in atomic physics) and a Fourier-transform spectrometer used by NASA to measure atmospheric temperature and radiation transfer from space.
A specialist on energy technology, climate science, and related public policy, [3] and a pioneer in carbon capture and storage, [4] Keith is a founder and board member of Carbon Engineering. [5]
Keith's research spans multiple fields, including climate-related technology assessment and policy analysis, technology development, atmospheric sciences, and physics. He strongly advocates for research into geoengineering approaches for addressing climate change, including both carbon cycle engineering [6] and solar radiation management approaches [7] He emphasizes that their scientific, environmental, geopolitical, social, psychological and ethical implications all need to be carefully examined and understood, before there can be a meaningful consideration of their possible use. [8]
Keith was born in Wisconsin, where his father, a British-born field biologist and Canadian Wildlife Service civil servant named Anthony Keith. attended grad school. His mother, Deborah Gorham, was a history professor at Carleton University. Keith grew up in Great Britain and in Ottawa, Ontario. [9] His stepmother was a biologist, like his father. [9] [10] [11] Keith is a citizen of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. [1]
He enjoyed reading and birdwatching with his father and later took up cross-country skiing, rock climbing and winter camping. [9] Keith's interest in physics was strengthened by spending several summers working in the National Research Council laser lab of experimental physicist Paul Corkum, beginning around the end of high school. [9] In 1986 Keith graduated with a B.S. in physics from the University of Toronto. [11]
He developed a love of the Arctic when he spent part of a gap year between undergraduate and graduate studies as a wildlife biologist's research assistant [10] on Devon Island in Nunavut. Since then he has canoed on the Yellowknife River, hiked Holman Island and crossed rough sea ice from Iglulik to Arctic Bay on skis. [9]
In 1991, Keith earned his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of Experimental Physics. [11] As a doctoral student at MIT, Keith was supervised by David E. Pritchard. Keith was a leader in the research group that created the first working atom interferometer, considered a major breakthrough in atomic physics. [12] This work was the basis for his Ph.D. thesis, An Interferometer for Atoms (1991). [13] After achieving this success, Keith chose to leave atomic physics, in part because one of the most obvious applications for atom interferometry was in building highly accurate gyroscopes for submarines carrying ballistic missiles. [12]
Keith was a post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University from 1991 to 1992, working with Granger Morgan to better understand uncertainty and expert judgments relating to climate change. [10] Keith became an adjunct assistant professor there in 1992, though working primarily elsewhere. [14] [1] He received a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Change Fellowship for 1992–1994, which he used to work on climate modeling at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. [15]
Keith spent the final year of his NOAA postdoc as a research scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University where he remained from 1993 to 1999. He worked with atmospheric chemist James G. Anderson. [14] [3] [10] Keith was the lead scientist in developing a Fourier-transform spectrometer with high radiometric accuracy which was used by NASA's high-altitude ER-2 research aircraft and by the Arrhenius satellite. Keith's sensors supported the measurement of atmospheric temperature and radiation transfer from space. [16] [17] [18]
As of 1999, Keith became an assistant professor at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. [14] [1] By 2000, Keith and Ph.D. student James Rhodes were developing a framework for what would be called bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). From the beginning, Keith has pointed out both advantages and concerns about possible approaches to climate mitigation. [4] [19]
In 2004, Keith was recruited to join the University of Calgary, where he became a professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and economics, and held the Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Environment. Keith became the director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE)'s Energy and Environmental Systems Group at the University of Calgary, an interdisciplinary research group within ISEEE. [20] While at the University of Calgary, he remained an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon. [1] At ISEEE, Keith sought to build connections between government, academics, environmentalists and business people. He gained the support of four major energy sector executives, publishing a 2007 report promoting carbon capture and storage. [3]
Keith later felt that the intellectual integrity of the organization became compromised. [3] [21] Effective September 1, 2011, Keith resigned from the University of Calgary. He remained an adjunct professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Calgary, and a visiting fellow at ISEEE. [21]
Also as of 2011, Keith accepted a professorship in applied physics and public policy at the Kennedy School of Harvard University. [21] In 2017 Keith was a founding co-director, with climate economist Gernot Wagner, of Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program. [22] As of 2019, Keith became the sole director, after Wagner joined the faculty of New York University. [23]
Keith presented to US National Academy of Sciences meetings in 2000, 2009 and 2013.
Keith moved his research to the University of Chicago in 2023, where he will lead a program with up to ten faculty members studying geoengineering. [24]
Keith was a coauthor of the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report [25] (chapters AR3-WG1, 8 Model Evaluation; [26] AR3-WG3, 4 Technological and Economic Potential of Options to Enhance, Maintain, and Manage Biological Carbon Reservoirs and Geo-engineering [27] ). Keith also chaired one of three groups for the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [20] and was a lead author of the 2005 IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. [28] He resigned from the committee for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. [29]
In May 2005 Keith was appointed to a federal advisory panel for the Canadian government's Sustainable Energy Science and Technology Strategy. Keith was a member of the Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty working group of the UK Royal Society, which produced a 2009 report. [30] [31] In 2010, Keith testified before committees of the US Congress [32] and the UK Parliament. [33]
With Ken Caldeira, Keith has managed the Fund for Innovative Energy and Climate Research (FICER), established by Bill Gates for climate-change research. [34] [3]
Keith was one of 18 members of the Washington, D.C. Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC)'s Task Force on Climate Remediation, which released a research report on October 4, 2011. [35] The authors of the BPC report believe "the (US) federal government should embark on a focused and systematic program of research into climate remediation." [35] As of 2021, the National Academies issued a report on the same subject, supporting a robust research plan and substantial oversight, risk assessment, and public outreach efforts and describing a framework for governance of possible experiments. Keith sees its governance recommendations as "actionable, incremental, and well-reasoned". [36]
Keith has written about the possible cost-effectiveness and geopolitical and ethical implications of many approaches to climate change and climate mitigation. In 2003, he and Alexander Farrell published a commentary in Science, questioning government initiatives for the development of fuel cell vehicles using compressed hydrogen. Hydrogen tends to be derived from oil and coal, and produces carbon dioxide. [37] In 2004, the National Academy of Sciences published a controversial paper in which his computer models suggested that massive wind farms turbines might have unexpected local and global impacts on climate. His argument was not that wind energy should not be considered, but rather that it needed to be better understood. [9] After early skepticism in 2008-2011 about solar energy's potential to become competitive, he now sees solar power as a leading contender for providing energy without huge environmental impact. [38] [39]
In the 1990s and 2000s, Keith worked on CO2 capture and storage, [9] considering it in terms of technology, economics and regulatory policy in the energy industry. [10] [40] Keith emphasizes that the primary goal in combating climate change must be the reduction of carbon emissions. However, it will still be necessary to counteract the effects of the carbon dioxide that has already been released into the atmosphere. He therefore sees multiple approaches to the problem of climate change, including pollution-management techniques and a "carbon tax", as desirable. [9] He has been criticized by environmental groups, politicians and energy-related business people for different recommendations. [9]
As of 2005, Keith's team at the University of Calgary built a five-metre tower to test the feasibility of removing "scrubbing" CO2 from the air and storing it underground. [9] In 2009 Keith founded Carbon Engineering, which seeks to develop technologies for the removal of carbon dioxide from the air and its conversion into pure CO2. [41] [10] [6] [42] [43] Having created the company, he largely ceased to do research and policy analysis in that area, feeling it would be a conflict of interest. [10]
As of October 2015, Carbon Engineering opened a demonstration plant for direct-air CO2 capture, in Squamish, British Columbia. The company hopes to use the carbon dioxide extracted from the air to produce an energy-dense synthetic carbon-based fuel, suitable for semis, buses and aircraft. Ideally they would like to produce a fuel that is economical, carbon-based and carbon-neutral. [44] Financial backers of Carbon Engineering include Bill Gates, N. Murray Edwards, [45] Peter J. Thomson, Chevron Corporation, Occidental Petroleum, and mining conglomerate BHP. [46] Occidental purchased the company in 2023 for $1.1 billion; Keith held about four percent ownership prior to the sale. [24]
Keith has worked on solar geoengineering since 1992, when he and Hadi Dowlatabadi published one of the first assessments of the technology and its policy implications, introducing a structured comparison of cost and risk. Keith has consistently argued that geoengineering needs a "systematic research program" to determine whether or not its approaches are feasible. [3] [34] [47] Keith has also appealed for international standards of governance and oversight for how such research might proceed. [48]
Keith published another overview of geoengineering in 2000, describing it in terms of moral hazard and setting geoengineering in the context of the post-war history of weather control. At the time geoengineering was "deeply controversial" and rarely talked about. Since then, interest in the field has increased and it is more openly discussed. [49] [34] [50]
Related publications include:
In 2013, Keith published A Case for Climate Engineering, providing "a clear and accessible overview" to a "controversial technology". [58] The book is described as a useful entry point for discussions, particularly for stratospheric aerosol injection and less so for other approaches to geoengineering. "The book's arguments are clear and it is upfront about many of the problems that arise from the position it defends." [59] Another reviewer appreciated Keith's ability to discuss issues "in simple language that can be understood by any reader" and his objectivity as he "discusses his own internal dilemma" and "exposes the reader to opposing views". [60]
A leading scientist long concerned about climate change, Keith offers no naïve proposal for an easy fix to what is perhaps the most challenging question of our time; climate engineering is no silver bullet. But he argues that after decades during which very little progress has been made in reducing carbon emissions we must put this technology on the table and consider it responsibly. [61]
The book garnered the attention of Stephen Colbert, and Keith appeared in a 9 December 2013 segment on The Colbert Report to discuss his geoengineering idea to slow climate change by spraying reflective particles into the upper atmosphere. [62] [63] Keith described the possibility of deploying planes to release tons of sulfuric acid into the atmosphere, which he freely admitted "would be a totally imperfect technical fix .. But it might actually save people and be useful." [64] Colbert was skeptical. Critics of the idea also include University of Chicago geophysicist Raymond Pierrehumbert who termed the idea "wildly, utterly, howlingly barking mad", [11] and the USA Today editorial board. [65]
Keith has worked initially with atmospheric chemist James G. Anderson [41] and later with principal investigator Frank Keutsch in the "sun-dimming" project SCoPEx, to examine the potential of seeding the stratosphere with reflective particles that would direct sunlight away from the earth. The idea was inspired by natural events such as the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which released sulfur and other particles into the air and caused a decrease in temperatures worldwide. [49]
Computer models suggest that a particle dispersion approach could reduce solar wattage and ambient temperatures. [41] Types of particles that have been proposed include sulfur dioxide, diamond dust, alumina and calcite or other forms of calcium carbonate. [66] [49] Major concerns for such an approach include the questions of how long particles would remain in the stratosphere, how they might interact with other components of the atmosphere, and whether they would increase pollution, cause health risks for humans, or have other negative ecological effects. [49] [41]
An early step in the project would be a small test using a balloon to release a small amount -- perhaps a kilogram -- of a chemical in the stratosphere. By studying local effects scientists could gain a better understanding of how the particles and the stratosphere would behave, to better assess the idea's feasibility and risks. Sensors attached to the balloon's gondola could measure particle reflectivity, degree of dispersion or coalescence of the plume, and interactions with other components of the atmosphere. If carried out, it would be one of the first official geoengineering-related experiments to be conducted outside of the laboratory. [49] [66] [12]
A 2012 proposal to carry out such a test in New Mexico, releasing sulphates in the lower stratosphere, was withdrawn. In 2020, the location of another proposed test, using calcium carbonate, was shifted from the U.S. southwest to Sweden, near the Arctic Circle. [67] In February 2021, plans to launch a stratospheric seeder balloon from Kiruna's Esrange Space Center in Lapland ran into opposition from the Swedes who wrote a heated letter to Per Bolund, the Swedish minister for environment and the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). The latter said "The flight will only be conducted provided that it is compliant with national and international regulations. The process to find out if this flight is legally compliant and ethically appropriate is ongoing. As of today we don't know whether there will be a flight or not." [68] On 31 March 2021, the SSC "said it had decided not to conduct the technical test" in the face of opposition from the local Sami reindeer herders and other environmental groups such as the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, who thought the techniques "too dangerous to ever be used". [69] [70] [71]
Keith is a frequent speaker and presenter. Among others, he has shared his thoughts in the TED forum in 2007, [75] was featured on the Discovery Channel in 2008, [76] participated in a panel on 21st-century challenges at the Royal Geographical Society in 2009, [77] did an interview on BBC News HARDTalk in 2011, [78] [79] and appeared in a Nova documentary on geoengineering which aired 28 October 2020. [80]
The scientific community has been investigating the causes of climate change for decades. After thousands of studies, it came to a consensus, where it is "unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land since pre-industrial times." This consensus is supported by around 200 scientific organizations worldwide, The dominant role in this climate change has been played by the direct emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Indirect CO2 emissions from land use change, and the emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases play major supporting roles.
Global dimming is a decline in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface. It is caused by atmospheric particulate matter, predominantly sulfate aerosols, which are components of air pollution. Global dimming was observed soon after the first systematic measurements of solar irradiance began in the 1950s. This weakening of visible sunlight proceeded at the rate of 4–5% per decade until the 1980s. During these years, air pollution increased due to post-war industrialization. Solar activity did not vary more than the usual during this period.
Planetary engineering is the development and application of technology for the purpose of influencing the environment of a planet. Planetary engineering encompasses a variety of methods such as terraforming, seeding, and geoengineering.
Climate engineering is an umbrella term for both carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation modification, when applied at a planetary scale. However, these two processes have very different characteristics. For this reason, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change no longer uses this overarching term. Carbon dioxide removal approaches are part of climate change mitigation. Solar radiation modification is reflecting some sunlight back to space. Some publications place passive radiative cooling into the climate engineering category. This technology increases the Earth's thermal emittance. The media tends to use climate engineering also for other technologies such as glacier stabilization, ocean liming, and iron fertilization of oceans. The latter would modify carbon sequestration processes that take place in oceans.
Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Climate change mitigation actions include conserving energy and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sources. Secondary mitigation strategies include changes to land use and removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Current climate change mitigation policies are insufficient as they would still result in global warming of about 2.7 °C by 2100, significantly above the 2015 Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to below 2 °C.
Raymond Thomas Pierrehumbert is the Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. Previously, he was Louis Block Professor in Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. He was a lead author on the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC and a co-author of the National Research Council report on abrupt climate change.
Daniel Paul Schrag is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. He also co-directs the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard University Harvard Kennedy School. He is also an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute.
This is a list of climate change topics.
Kenneth Caldeira is an American atmospheric scientist. His areas of research include ocean acidification, climate effects of trees, intentional climate modification, interactions in the global carbon cycle/climate system, and sustainable energy.
Solar radiation modification (SRM), or solar geoengineering, refers to a range of approaches to limit global warming by increasing the amount of sunlight that the atmosphere reflects back to space or by reducing the trapping of outgoing thermal radiation. Among the multiple potential approaches, stratospheric aerosol injection is the most-studied, followed by marine cloud brightening. SRM could be a temporary measure to limit climate-change impacts while greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and carbon dioxide is removed, but would not be a substitute for reducing emissions.
Arctic geoengineering is a type of climate engineering in which polar climate systems are intentionally manipulated to reduce the undesired impacts of climate change. As a proposed solution to climate change, arctic geoengineering is relatively new and has not been implemented on a large scale. It is based on the principle that Arctic albedo plays a significant role in regulating the Earth's temperature and that there are large-scale engineering solutions that can help maintain Earth's hemispheric albedo. According to researchers, projections of sea ice loss, when adjusted to account for recent rapid Arctic shrinkage, indicate that the Arctic will likely be free of summer sea ice sometime between 2059 and 2078. Advocates for Arctic geoengineering believe that climate engineering methods can be used to prevent this from happening.
Marine cloud brightening also known as marine cloud seeding and marine cloud engineering is a proposed solar radiation management climate engineering technique that would make clouds brighter, reflecting a small fraction of incoming sunlight back into space in order to offset anthropogenic global warming. Along with stratospheric aerosol injection, it is one of the two solar radiation management methods that may most feasibly have a substantial climate impact. The intention is that increasing the Earth's albedo, in combination with greenhouse gas emissions reduction, carbon dioxide removal, and adaptation, would reduce climate change and its risks to people and the environment. If implemented, the cooling effect is expected to be felt rapidly and to be reversible on fairly short time scales. However, technical barriers remain to large-scale marine cloud brightening. There are also risks with such modification of complex climate systems.
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is a process in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by deliberate human activities and durably stored in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products. This process is also known as carbon removal, greenhouse gas removal or negative emissions. CDR is more and more often integrated into climate policy, as an element of climate change mitigation strategies. Achieving net zero emissions will require first and foremost deep and sustained cuts in emissions, and then—in addition—the use of CDR. In the future, CDR may be able to counterbalance emissions that are technically difficult to eliminate, such as some agricultural and industrial emissions.
Stratospheric aerosol injection is a proposed method of solar geoengineering to reduce global warming. This would introduce aerosols into the stratosphere to create a cooling effect via global dimming and increased albedo, which occurs naturally from volcanic winter. It appears that stratospheric aerosol injection, at a moderate intensity, could counter most changes to temperature and precipitation, take effect rapidly, have low direct implementation costs, and be reversible in its direct climatic effects. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that it "is the most-researched [solar geoengineering] method that it could limit warming to below 1.5 °C (2.7 °F)." However, like other solar geoengineering approaches, stratospheric aerosol injection would do so imperfectly and other effects are possible, particularly if used in a suboptimal manner.
Atmospheric methane is the methane present in Earth's atmosphere. The concentration of atmospheric methane is increasing due to methane emissions, and is causing climate change. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Methane's radiative forcing (RF) of climate is direct, and it is the second largest contributor to human-caused climate forcing in the historical period. Methane is a major source of water vapour in the stratosphere through oxidation; and water vapour adds about 15% to methane's radiative forcing effect. The global warming potential (GWP) for methane is about 84 in terms of its impact over a 20-year timeframe, and 28 in terms of its impact over a 100-year timeframe.
The history of the scientific discovery of climate change began in the early 19th century when ice ages and other natural changes in paleoclimate were first suspected and the natural greenhouse effect was first identified. In the late 19th century, scientists first argued that human emissions of greenhouse gases could change Earth's energy balance and climate. The existence of the greenhouse effect, while not named as such, was proposed as early as 1824 by Joseph Fourier. The argument and the evidence were further strengthened by Claude Pouillet in 1827 and 1838. In 1856 Eunice Newton Foote demonstrated that the warming effect of the sun is greater for air with water vapour than for dry air, and the effect is even greater with carbon dioxide.
Space mirrors are satellites that are designed to change the amount of solar radiation that impacts the Earth as a form of climate engineering. The concept was first theorised in 1923 by physicist Hermann Oberth and later developed in the 1980s by other scientists. Space mirrors can be used to increase or decrease the amount of solar energy that reaches a specific point of the earth for various purposes. They have been theorised as a method of solar geoengineering by creating a space sunshade to deflect sunlight and counter global warming.
Gernot Wagner is an Austro-American climate economist at Columbia Business School, where he is a tenured full professor. He holds an AB and a PhD in political economy and government from Harvard University, as well as an MA in economics from Stanford University. A founding co-director of Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program (2017-2019) he joined the faculty of New York University in 2019, moving to Columbia University in 2022. Wagner writes a monthly column for Project Syndicate, and is the co-author, with Martin L. Weitzman, of Climate Shock, a Top 15 Financial Times-McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2015. He won the "Austrian of the Year" award in 2022, awarded by Austrian daily Die Presse.