Illustration redesigned by Devin Thorpe
The quick fix of geoengineering also belies the extent of the problem that we face. It is not just the carbon in the atmosphere that threatens our way of life, but the way humans treat the entire natural system. From mining out and then throwing away resources to indiscriminately killing pollinators along with pest insects, our way of life also requires serious changes. This will be harder than spending a few billion to blast sulfur into the sky.
In order to use geoengineering safely, our species must first own up to its limitations. We are neither as smart nor as good as we think we are. We’ve already altered nature to suit our purposes, and the result has been catastrophic. Now we propose to alter it again to save ourselves, and while it may become necessary to do so, the outcome is a question mark. Nobody has ever dumped billions of tons of limestone into the oceans before. Nobody has ever artificially fertilized the sea to turn it into a carbon sink. Nobody has ever weighed the net benefit of having a healthy ozone layer against a fatal rise in the planet’s temperature.
Pros
There are geoengineering measures that are low-risk. Afforestation is an obvious and easy strategy that can (and should) be adopted at the local level. While tree-planting alone can’t solve our problem, it could make a huge dent, especially in combination with a carbon tax and infrastructure improvements for electric cars and public transportation. Better yet, it generates stable, valuable jobs for botanists, gardeners, and foresters. Planting trees is literally a job creator.
Taking geoengineering seriously could force governments to generate a collective climate change plan of action. In the case of extreme geoengineering, as with albedo enhancement, a government’s incentive to end the process might be significant. Aside from ozone and acid rain issues, extra aerosols won’t be good for people with asthma, COPD, and other breathing problems. Reducing sunlight may impede crop growth and solar panel efficiency. Because it’s never been tried, it’s difficult to know. Likewise, predicting how extra limestone will impact the ocean’s ecological balance, especially when it comes to commercially viable fish, is impossible. Life under extreme geoengineering could become quite miserable for the average voter. While this is a bad reason to finally fix climate change, it could also serve as a lesson. Maybe this is how our species will finally learn that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Finally, as the Arctic melts and the Earth warms, there may be no way to avoid taking drastic measures. If there is one thing that can be said for sulfur aerosols, it’s that they may allow life on Earth to continue if we are truly in a corner. That’s time that we can buy to set things right. If geoengineering can give us a reprieve, then let’s not waste it.
Featured Header Image Source: The Conversation