GeoEngineering Our Planet

If you appreciate Bill McDonough's vision for a sustainable future and his ability to think big, this is something you'll want to check out. Some scientists have been thinking ahead about how to deal with our climate change problem and what to do in the future if we haven't acted quick enough. Eli Kintisch, a writer for Science magazine, has written a book called Hack the Planet that describes ways to geoengineer the planet to block the sun's radiation in a way that will cool our planet, and lays out ambitious ways to sequester carbon. A quick sample of the ideas mentioned to reflect light to combat climate change: brighten the ocean's surface with tiny bubbles, brighten clouds, and put certain aerosol particles into the stratosphere to reflect light.

These types of plans are a last resort to solve the problem of raising temperatures. The author explains that these ideas are on such a scale that nobody is sure of what might happen when implemented. Political and moral questions arise from these types of grand ideas; who gets to use this technology? should we tinker with earth's delicate climate system? The idea is to have some sort of backup plan in case we fail to solve this problem through gradual shifts toward sustainability and reduction in greenhouse gases.

Fascinating stuff. Here is a link to a Q&A with the author.