Engineer+the+Climate

According to James Lovelock, the Earth maintains the climate in such a way that life can continue to exist. When one factor in the global ecosystem falters, another will occur in excess in order to bring the atmosphere back to “equilibrium” so to speak. However, with the presence of humans, there are now man-made products and excesses of other gases, especially CO2, are present in the atmosphere. This makes it very difficult for Earth to maintain equilibrium when these products severely impact the environment and could lead to extinction of humans if the problem persists. A way to fix this is to engineer the climate, or use technology to bring the Earth back to an atmosphere that allows for civilization to continue. This must occur either in a vast expanse of area or globally in order for it to work. The most common theories are to make technologies for greenhouse gas removal(GGR) or solar radiation management(SRM). GGR would be used to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere while SRM would add reflective particles in the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth.

If either of these theories become feasible, then there is a chance that the Earth can be engineered in such a way that human civilizations may survive. However this is not guaranteed, as there is a likelihood for the technology to not work as expected, and it very difficult to predict the outcomes of a global project such as this. Also, these projects would be very difficult to produce and would undoubtedly lead to social and political conflicts. Even if engineering the climate does go smoothly, “turning back the clock” on the effects of global warming will not be possible because there will be a new and different climate. One of the largest issues presented by engineering the climate is taking away funding to reduce carbon emissions. Another issue with this is the ability for other states and countries to deploy the technology equally to have the best possible impact. Although engineering the climate could allow the continuation of civilization, there are many risks. (LPH) Engineering the Planet's Climate-- In the article, Mr. James Lovelock describes several methods of reversing the gradual increase in the global temperature. He describes how the Earth naturally regulates itself through life; when heat-trapping greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide become abundant, plants consume the extra gas and release more oxygen back into the atmosphere, reducing the carbon dioxide levels and the temperature as well. Taking advantage of this negative feedback cycle through different methods of engineering could help to cool the planet much more quickly. For example, one potential solution may involve transporting nutrient-rich waters from the depths of the oceans up to the surface. This would stimulate the growth of plankton blooms, which could effectively decrease the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases. Another possibly more permanent, or even irreversible solution, would be to disperse compounds such as dimethyl sulfate into the atmosphere in order to create clouds, which could block off sunlight from reaching the surface.

Despite the promise that these projects may have, they must all be evaluated to understand the negative consequences that may occur. Creating large blooms of plankton may upset the natural balance of the marine ecosystem on the microscopic scale, which would have far-reaching consequences in the trophic levels farther up in the food chain. Furthermore, the costs necessary to transport the nutrients and install the pipelines would likely be far too great for any nation to consider. This same ecological "chain-reaction-of-doom" situation applies to the second solution, with artificial clouds. Unlike life, which constantly responds to the environment to maintain a stable climate, a release of chemicals would not be very easily regulated, and could potentially lower the planet's temperature to a point where life would struggle to exist. As was described by Lovelock himself, the atmosphere and its impact upon ecosystems around the world are very difficult to model correctly. For this reason, the amount of dimethyl sulfide that would be required to fix the climate is uncertain. (PCAW)

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