Obama Exploring Radical Geoengineering Solutions to Global Warming

Barack Obama's chief science adviser, John Holdren, explained during an interview that the administration was exploring all options to fight global warming, including trying to cool the planet by artificially blocking sunlight.


The concept of geoengineering as it applies to global climate change brings with it some very interesting scenarios. One of the most intriguing is the idea that scientists may be able to shoot sulfur particles and other similar substances into the upper reaches of the earth's atmosphere in order to block the sun's rays and theoretically cool the planet in the process. The approach is designed to simulate the effect of volcanic eruptions and their ash that blocks out the sun for long periods of time.

As recently as a few years ago, ideas such as this were summarily dismissed as too extreme and unlikely to be practically effective in battling global climate change. But with the Obama administration has come a renewed focus on the problem of global warming and a mildly troubling obsession with the idea that drastic measures will have positive long-term effects.

If we have learned anything as humans, it is that the earth's natural balance and resiliance is still largely beyond our understanding. To expect science and technology - and more importantly, our political leaders - to understand the intricacies of the planet well enough to be able to start manipulating the natural functions of our solar system, is probably too much of a stretch -- even for Barack Obama.

My guess is that the administration wants to make sure that it pushes the global warming agenda as hard as possible, in the hopes that some of the "crazy talk" will make people more willing to compromise on the more practical and reasonable solutions that are on the table. Everyone needs to do everything possible to lessen our impact on the planet, but the planet itself needs to be given some time and some room to heal.