User:Tillman/Novim Group

The Novim Group is a non-profit based in Santa Barbara, CA which has funded and overseen two global scientific research projects: a Climate Engineering Study Group report and the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST) study.

About Novim
Novim was founded in 2008 with a mission to assemble teams of high-profile, high-caliber researchers from top research universities and government agencies around the world to tackle major global scientific issues. Novim chooses issues which, by the nature of the underlying problem to be solved, are important to all of humanity. Their projects explain the probable costs and possible consequences of each course of action. The name Novim is derived from novo - the Russian word for new.

Novim's Executive Director Michael Ditmore says that the group "convenes teams of scientists to analyze such issues and publish their findings without advocacy."

Novim administers the fundraising efforts necessary to conduct the project studies. Funding sources for the BEST study include the Charles Koch, the Getty Foundation, Bill Gates, and others.

Geoengineering Study
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) announced Novim's first report, a Climate Engineering Study Group report, in August of 2009. This paper examines the need for and the nature of using geoengineering to lower the Earth's average temperature. The authors suggest adopting the principles of short wave climate engineering (SWCE) to introduce aerosols into the stratosphere. Much like the sulfur particles released by large volcanic eruptions, the aerosols would reflect shortwave solar radiation back into space to cool the air and land below. SWCE may help reverse global warming but the technique remains untested until further research can lower the potential for adverse effects. Opponents claim that the core causes are not addressed, only the symptoms, and that SWCE would damage the ozone.

Novim collected an international team of scientists to work together on the study. Dr. Ken Caldeira advocates for small scale testing to be performed soon so that a working system could, at the very least, be designed and ready in event of a large-scale climate crisis which requires rapid global action. Deploying the methods described in the study would cost an estimated $8 billion USD per year if delivered by aircraft.

The paper was submitted to peer review in 2009 at the IOP Conference Series and the IIASA GGI Seminar. Novim has also made the paper available for free online at Arxiv.org. Since it's release, Novim's Geoengineering Study has become a common reference in peer academic studies on the subject, including a United States House of Representatives Report, an article in Science , the Journal of Geophysical Research , and the International Seminar on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies. The study has also appeared on the suggested reading lists at the Trottier Symposium, the Denver Climate Study Group , and the International Risk Governance Council meeting on geoengineering.

Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST) Study
Novim's second study was the recently released Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Study (BEST). The study reanalyzes the world's land temperature data – using information from more recording stations than the studies referenced by Climategate - with an intention to provide clear, fact-based results made readily available without political bias. Professor Richard A. Muller led the study team, which also included 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics winner Saul Perlmutter. Results will be made available soon for free via smartphone and tablet app, and can currently be downloaded from the BEST website.

Affiliations
Novim applies techniques and methodologies developed at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCSB, an organization whose founders, directors, and researchers include multiple Noble Prize winners. KITP Director David Gross is a member of Novim's Science Advisory Board.

Novim has recently begun working with Environmental Capital Group's Managing Director Bryan Martel to pursue future studies.

Science Advisory Board
As of November 2011, Novim's Science Advisory Board is comprised of the following members:


 * David Auston
 * Past President, Kavli Foundation
 * Tom Everhart
 * President Emeritus, Caltech
 * David Gross, 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics
 * James Langer, Past President, American Physical Society
 * Venkatesh Narayanamurti
 * Former Dean, Harvard SEAS