Reading through the few Wikileaks cables related to climate, the tip of the iceberg becomes visible. The most interesting seems to involve the usual pressures related to top level nominations: in this case, the nomination for the IPCC Group II organization comes to light. The original cable is visible here , but it is said to state that Christopher Field had no opposition; the other proposed position for co-chair, Mostafa Jafari, an Iran scientist, was not acceptable, although a qualified scientist. The cable apparently states that Rajendra Pachauri, head of the IPCC, promised background collaboration, and non-identification of the US pressures. The Austrian delegate, which lead the selection process, also agreed on the veto on Jafari.

"Geoengineering Moratorium at UN Ministerial in Japan
Risky Climate Techno-fixes Blocked

NAGOYA, Japan – In a landmark consensus decision, the 193-member UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will close its tenth biennial meeting with a de facto moratorium on geoengineering projects and experiments. “Any private or public experimentation or adventurism intended to manipulate the planetary thermostat will be in violation of this carefully crafted UN consensus,” stated Silvia Ribeiro, Latin American Director of ETC Group.

The agreement, reached during the ministerial portion of the two-week meeting which included 110 environment ministers, asks governments to ensure that no geoengineering activities take place until risks to the environment and biodiversity and associated social, cultural and economic impacts have been appropriately considered. The CBD secretariat was also instructed to report back on various geoengineering proposals and potential intergovernmental regulatory measures.

The unusually strong consensus decision builds on the 2008 moratorium on ocean fertilization. That agreement, negotiated at COP 9 in Bonn, put the brakes on a litany of failed “experiments” – both public and private – to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide in the oceans’ depths by spreading nutrients on the sea surface. Since then, attention has turned to a range of futuristic proposals to block a percentage of solar radiation via large-scale interventions in the atmosphere, stratosphere and outer space that would alter global temperatures and precipitation patterns.

“This decision clearly places the governance of geoengineering in the United Nations where it belongs,” said ETC Group Executive Director Pat Mooney. “This decision is a victory for common sense, and for precaution. It will not inhibit legitimate scientific research. Decisions on geoengineering cannot be made by small groups of scientists from a small group of countries that establish self-serving ‘voluntary guidelines’ on climate hacking. What little credibility such efforts may have had in some policy circles in the global North has been shattered by this decision. The UK Royal Society and its partners should cancel their Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative and respect that the world’s governments have collectively decided that future deliberations on geoengineering should take place in the UN, where all countries have a seat at the table and where civil society can watch and influence what they are doing.

Major impact on climate

In the studied scenario rainfall strongly decreases, up to fifteen percent in large areas in northern Eurasia and North America. In the Amazon Basin, the amount of rainfall might even drop by twenty percent. In other tropical regions similar changes can be seen, both positive and negative. In all four models the global rainfall is reduced by five percent.

The implications are still uncertain, but it is clear reducing the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth's surface will lead to a climate different from any in the Earth's past. Even if the global mean temperature is equal to an earlier age, the global climate is different from any climate before.

...

Weather warfare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Weather warfare is the use of weather modification techniques such as cloud seeding for military purposes.

The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (Geneva: 18 May 1977, Entered into force: 5 October 1978) prohibits "widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury".[1] However it has been argued that this permits "local, non-permanent changes".

Prior to the Geneva Convention, the United States used weather warfare in the Vietnam War. Under the auspices of the Air Weather Service, the United States' Operation Popeye used cloud seeding over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, increasing rainfall by an estimated thirty percent during 1967 and 1968. It was hoped that the increased rainfall would reduce the rate of infiltration down the trail.[2]

With much less success, the United States also dropped salt on the airbase during the siege of Khe Sanh in an attempt to reduce the fog that hindered air operations.[citation needed]

A research paper produced for the United States Air Force written in 1996 speculates about the future use of nano-technology to produce "artificial weather", clouds of microscopic computer particle all communicating with each other to form an intelligent fog that could be used for various purposes. "Artificial weather technologies do not currently exist. But as they are developed, the importance of their potential applications rises rapidly." Weather modification technologies are described as "a force multiplier with tremendous power that could be exploited across the full spectrum of war-fighting environments." [3]