I figured it was time for me to finally post something here since I am listed as a "contributor".
I read an interesting article today about Obama's new science advisor, John Holdren, and his ideas on how to cool the Earth's atmosphere. Holdren is a proponent of geoengineering the climate to lower global temperatures. An example of geoengineering would be building artificial trees that pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The most extreme option listed was to reflect heat from the sun by dispersing pollution into the upper atmosphere.
I'm excited to see new technology to deal with environmental issues, but Frankenstein's monster keeps popping into my head. Could we actually do more harm than good by playing around with the environment? What are your thoughts on geoengineering?
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Haven't we screwed with Mother Nature enough? I really don't like this idea for a number of reasons. For one, if we indeed began geoengineering the climate we would have to continue to do so indefinitely. Maybe it works in the short run to cool the planet, but no one has the foresight to know what the far-reaching consequences of us deliberately screwing with nature's climate patterns will be. Second, this could curb the drive to reduce carbon emissions if it's looked at as an insurance policy (which it surely will be viewed as such by some). Third, the possibility of weaponizing geoengineering is entirely too real for my taste. Imagine our enemies with the capability to directly and intentionally affect our country's weather. That might sound far fetched to some, but look what happened after we developed the atomic/nuclear weapons. Rather destroy them and ban their creation after witnessing their destructive power, the world raced to build as many as possible. Fourth, scientists these days seem to have absolutely no moral restrictions on their work. Just two years ago, brain cells were successfully fused to computer chips. Anyone can see the inherent danger in that. The science world is so caught up with whether or not they can, they never stop to think if they should. There are boundaries that do not need to be crossed, and in my eye deliberately creating technology with the intention of playing God with the weather is one of those boundaries. I'm completely against this idea is the main bullet point of this presentation.
Good lord has everyone forgotten the lesson that The Matrix taught us about messing with the atmosphere? At least they were being faced with an invasion of intelligent machines.
To be serious, I agree with things like articifical trees and more "passive" carbon reducing technologies. Geoengineering seems a bit insane. Perhaps if we had a spare Earth ala The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy to test it on.
As for fusing brains cells with microchips, bring on the freaking implants baby! I need all the help I can get in this uber cracked out rat race we are living in.
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