Blog # 7 Exploratory Essay

Growing up I was always interested in science fiction and new technologies. As I got older I started to realize that a lot of these topics brought up in science fiction and the new technologies were not far from becoming a part of the world we live in today. With issues such as global warming or “climate change” causing worry and alarm, people around the nation and globe have realized that we are running out of time and options. So in a world where science fiction is not far from the future, are some of these new technology really going to benefit the people of Earth? Many of the technologies may benefit us, but there are a few technologies out there I have recently discovered called geoengineering which may pose a greater threat to our world than the actual rises in CO2 levels and greenhouse gases. I have been able to do some research on geoengineering, and found out that geoengineering is man-made technologies geared towards cooling down our planet by either capturing CO2 or reflecting some of the sun’s radiation away from earth’s surface to avoid temperatures from rising. Geoengineering has raised many questions for me; is spraying our stratosphere with aerosols in an attempt to cool down the planet, rather than changing our lifestyles and cutting emissions really better for our environment and the wellbeing of mankind? Are there other methods that we can use to “cool down” our planet, rather alternative to spraying aerosol particles in the stratosphere? To begin my research I wanted to find out more specifically what geoengineering was, and how many types of geoengineering exist or what new prototypes being developed. I began to read various articles, books, on geoengineering, some of what I read could have as easily been pulled straight out of a science fiction novel from the early 1940’s. The information was frightening to see that this new technology could change and alter the future of our planet for hundreds of years to come.

My first source was “Does Geoengineering Present a Moral Hazard?” published by Albert C. Lin, in the “Ecology Law Quarterly”. I found out there are two main types of geoengineering that are being discussed globally. The first is carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which strives to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere; the second is solar radiation management (SRM) which aims to reflect some of the sun’s radiation into space (675). There seem to be hazards involved with both methods. For the first route it would require dumping tons of iron into the oceans to spawn phytoplankton growth which would consume CO2, though it would be at a slower rate than the emissions we produce, and could have “fatal effects on marine animals”(676). The second route involves “stratospheric aerosol deployment” (675), which is essentially planes spraying the sky with particles to reflect some of the sunlight away from earth. The second method is truly frightening, because it does “nothing to address…rising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere” (676). These methods can be hazardous because they are all still relatively new technologies, and we don’t quite know the effect they could have on humans, or even if they will work to cool down the planet like they are theorizing. It seems that overall we will have to take a long look at whether we want to simply adapt to these rising greenhouse gases and continue on with our hunger for consumption, or we have to mitigate the existing problem, before we go on creating new ones with geoengineering.

I continued my research on geoengineering, this time more focused to find out more about the aerosol spraying in the stratosphere. This led me to read Tony Svoboda’s article “Is Aerosol Geoengineering Ethically Preferable to Other Climate Change Strategies?” Which gave me a lot of information on the advantages and disadvantages of aerosol geoengineering. Spraying aerosols into the atmosphere appear to work in cooling down the temperature in a fast and inexpensive way, cheaper than actually cutting emissions. Those may seem like advantages to some, but it sounds to me like whoever is in charge of making decisions regarding “climate change” is just looking for an easy and profitable way out of an inevitable solution to the climate change situation. The disadvantages seemed to far outweigh the so called advantages. Messing around with injecting sulfate precursor aerosols could prove to be very dangerous for some regions of the world, causing rain in some areas and droughts in others. Another reason injecting aerosols into the stratosphere could be dangerous is if from some reason they we no longer able to keep up with the spraying “the aerosols already in the stratosphere would disperse within several years, allowing global temperatures to increase rapidly” (5). I can see how this type of geoengineering may see like the best option for us to buy some time to create solutions to cut mitigate emissions, but that would also mean relying on those in charge of this type of technology to use it for its intended purpose. I can only wonder if this type of aerosol spraying got into the wrong hands, what it could do to a poor country we are at war with. If instead of using it to “cool down” the planet they caused a drought or floods in other countries. They would essentially be playing god, by controlling the weather around the world, by deciding who gets water and who does not. It seems that these aerosol methods of geoengineering are not being tested with the wellbeing of mankind as part of the agenda to “cool the planet”.

Trying to stay on track on the subject of geoengineering my research lead me to the public library, where I was able to find only one book on geoengineering. Geoengineering is fairly new and still in the research and development phases, so there is not many published books, although I have a feeling there will be many more to come.  After reading “How To Cool The Planet” by Jeff Goodell, I recognized some of these familiar terms such as carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM), but one thing that realty caught my attention was how Goodell’s research on geoengineering lead him to meet with David Keith who is head of energy and environmental program at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Keith is in charge of designing a “CO2 scrubber”, a machine which essentially uses “lye (sodium hydroxide) to bind with the CO2… which then removes the CO2 from the atmosphere…the lye is then transformed into sodium carbonate”(28). Once you capture the sodium carbonate you mix with lime causing the CO2 to settle and then be baked to separate into pure streams of CO2 and quicklime”(29). Keith’s invention could change the game in geoengineering if he could develop a cheap and safe way to filter the CO2 out of the atmosphere opposed to spraying aerosols in the stratosphere. This process seemed so cool to me, a machine designed in a “closed loop system” that can suck out CO2 from our atmosphere, which can then be sold and reused for alternative energies. It was a bit of relief when I read about these “softer” methods being developed around the world, showing a glimpse of hope that we won’t be solely subjected to this science fiction way of “injecting our stratosphere” with aluminum and other particles, if we can discover these new technologies out there.

 I wanted to find out more about other technologies used to geo-engineer in attempt to cool down or help with the rising CO2 levels around the world. Which is what lead me to my next source, an article which explored “soft geoengineering”, ways to attempt to cool the planet with minimal damages to the ecosystems. I had to find out how many of these different technologies were out there. It seem there haven’t been many discovered that are cost efficient, if there was the “aerosol sprays” wouldn’t be the main plan of choice. But I did end up finding some that seems like they could be a great start to helping solve the climate change crisis locally. I found a new method, one of a few being developed, that creates hydrosols in the water, which is essentially a “cloud turned inside out” (30), which would use millions of “microbubbles” which can “double the reflectivity of water” (30). This method of cooling the planet can be applied locally and cheaply, the article says “brightening a large pond can have an equivalent effect to putting white roofs on 10,000 buildings- for little more than the cost of one roof” (30). It seems there are safer technologies being developed to help save our planet from rising CO2 levels which may cool down our planet, opposed to spaying our stratosphere will dangerous particles. Not only are these methods safer, but they could create a new technology boom in local communities around the world.

 Last I visited the website GeoengineeringWatch.org and I saw a different issues about geoengineering not really mentioned in the academic readings I had found in the public library. This website was more geared towards putting an end to Geoengineering, which has already begun in our country. It sheds some light on some of these private funded originations have already begun research and testing with the aerosol particle injection of the stratosphere without permission or votes by the public and other geopolitical states around the world.  Dane Wigington give a series of presentations of how these particles which they are spraying into the atmosphere are harmful for human consumption and could lead to serious side effects down the road, if we as a people don’t put an end to the current situation. Wigington say “that the purpose of the website is to expose the issue of global climate engineering (geoengineering)” (00:06-00:17). I think this website is very important to show the population, most who have no idea that geoengineering even exists, that we have to be aware of what is actually happening in our country.

I was very intrigued with all of the information I had found on this subject of geoengineering. I had hear rumors about the subject, but they were always brought up as “chemtrails” which was regarded as a conspiracy theory. I was very stratified to find out that this scientific term geoengineering existed. It seems that overall we may be facing an issue of grand proportion, with the aerosol geoengineering, but it was a relief to find they methods regarded as “soft geoengineering”, methods which are actually being developed and used in attempt to cool down the planet or being down some of the high levels of CO2 in our atmosphere in a safe effective manner. It seems we need to spend some time and figure out a cost effective way to address the issue of geoengineering and climate change.

                                                                  Work Cited

Lin, Albert C “Does Geoengineering Present a Moral Hazard?”   Ecology Law Quarterly. 2013,

Vol. 40 Issue 3, p673-712. 40p.

Goodell, Jeff 2010 “How To Cool The Planet, Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix

the Earths Climate” New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. Print

Olson, Robert L.“Soft Geoengineering: A Gentler Approach to Addressing Climate Change.”

        Environment. Sep/Oct 2012, Vol. 54 Issue 5, p29-39. 6 Color Photographs, 1 Chart, 1 Graph,

Svoboda, Tony, Is Aerosol Geoengineering Ethically Preferable to Other Climate Change

Strategies? Ethics & the Environment. Fall2012, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p111-135. 25p

Exter, Robert and Wigington Dane, “Climate Engineering Weather Warfare, and the Collapse of

Civilization” YOUTUBE.com. Jan 30, 2014, www.GeoengineeringWatch.org