I just finished reading
Jamais Cascio's excellent new column, "
The Geoengineering Option,"
in which he argues that terraforming the planet may be a necessary evil
to combat the effects of global warming. Cascio writes, "The early
examination of options we’d rather not use is vital. If the climate
collapses faster than expected, or if our efforts fail (or are blocked
by recalcitrant leaders), we will see people desperate for survival
trying out these kinds of last-ditch solutions." He offers a number of
potential options:
...blocking
a fraction of incoming sunlight with a giant mirror in space: using
genetically-engineered plants and microbes to remove atmospheric carbon
dioxide and methane at a faster-than-natural rate; seeding the
atmosphere with fine particles to reflect sunlight away; dumping iron
into the oceans to stimulate the growth of carbon dioxide-devouring
plankton; and more. None of these would be done easily, or cheaply;
quite possibly, none of these could be done effectively, or without
grossly negative results (for example, a too-large plankton bloom has
the potential to render parts of the ocean sterile).
Cascio
is right to note that we should be aware of our options in the event
our environment go to the shits, and he's also right to note that these
interventions are radical and have the potential to be disastrous.
Re-working an autonomous system like the Earth's biosphere is a task of
exquisite complexity that is quite beyond our current know-how.
Which leads me to the point I wish to make.
The
evidence for anthrogenic climate change is now incontrovertible, as is
the realization that this is the greatest catastrophe to ever confront
our species.
The time to act is now. Governments need to put measures into place that will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible.
Moreover,
given all the evidence to support global warming, I believe it is time
to issue a warning and a threat to all ruling politicians around the
world:
you will be held accountable.
At this time of crisis, your inaction as elected and accountable
leaders in the face of obvious looming catastrophe will be held against
you. Barring the onset of real and effective measures,
once the flood waters start to rise, the mass extinctions enter into
full swing, the superstorms start to hit with regularity, and diseases
and famines start to ravage populations, it will be necessary to gather
all former politicians to make them answer for their reckless disregard
while they were in power. Inaction today is nothing less than a crime
against humanity and a crime against the environment.
These
days politics has mutated into a sad and pathetic game where the only
thing that matters is politicking, pandering to the ruling elites, and
taking advantage of the complacent masses. It’s time that politicians
actually start to lead instead of worrying about their fate in the next
election.
Otherwise, they’ll have to start worrying about a different kind of fate altogether.