In January 2021 I gave you the news of a study from Harvard University's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, supported by Bill Gates. A study that aimed to determine whether blocking sunlight from reaching the surface of our planet would help delay the effects of climate change.
Today more than 60 experts and scientists signed a letter expressing their concerns about these geoengineering projects.
Geoengineering, don't joke
“The deployment of solar geoengineering cannot be governed globally,” the researchers warn. “We call for immediate political action from governments, the United Nations and other actors. We need to act quickly to prevent the normalization of solar geoengineering as a climate policy option."
The letter adds that dramatically lowering the sun's radiative power would almost certainly disrupt monsoon rains in southern Asia and western Africa. What's more, it would end up seriously damaging the plants that humans depend on for food. The experiments would also trigger desertification in the Amazon.
And worst of all: you don't need it
The worst part of all this is that geoengineering technology would not only fail to slow climate change, but it could also provide governments and individuals with a false sense of security, suggesting that the problem has been solved. This, in turn, “would disincentivize countries, businesses and organizations from doing all they can to achieve decarbonisation”. In other words, a catastrophic chain reaction.
Last but not least, the letter calls for an “international non-use agreement” to ensure that the richest nations or men on earth will never obtain patent rights to these technologies.
Although the letter's goal is to safeguard humanity from potentially catastrophic experiments, it leaves us with a significant conundrum: What can really be done about global warming?
