REFLECTIVE DUST (dispersed in the atmosphere), GM CROPS (whose leaves are designed to be more shiny so that they can reflect more light), REFLECTIVE BALLOONS (launched into the higher atmosphere), SEQUESTRATION (storing CO2 underground), OCEAN FERTILIZATION (sprinkling iron dust to bloom photosynthetic plankton) and SPACE MIRRORS (in orbit to deflect sunlight away from earth).
We must be crazy. Where are we are getting all this fancy, "innovative" ideas from? More importantly “why” are our human minds coming up with such “wonderfully brilliant” ideas?
Is this how we are planning to "fight" global warming? It seems some of the best of the intellectuals (around the world in various universities, companies, and other organizations) seem to think so. I wondered if all these people needed some lessons on “life”, as I read the article in the latest issue of Down to Earth.
Of course, I am not an expert on climate change, yet can Technology (alone) solve all our problems? Should we not show materialistic technology its place, never overplay it ?
Does it simply not make sense to worry about the root cause of the problem? And just develop new, fancy, quick fixes for a problem we have created in a system which we don't fully understand (which we probably will never fully understand).
And we do not even seem to have the humility to accept the limitations of human ability to understand, and intervene in natural systems that are far too complex for our minds to ever comprehend. True, human thinking, imagination, creativity, has no bounds, but the way we do science (and all other things), learning (“discovering”) by analysis, that is by systematically breaking down systems into comprehensible (for the limited human mind) parts, and repeatedly experimenting with it, to understand it, does not seem to be sustainable. Coz we have just one planet to screw up. We simply cant reverse engineer it.
What is the root cause of global warming? In one line, we are producing too much green house gases, majorly C02. Does not this one line pretty evidently indicate the solution. Should we not produce less of it, start living a sustainable life? Simplistic, non materialistic approach to life, like a lot of wise people suggest.
Instead we seem to have these brilliant ideas. True, these are wonderful ideas people have come up with, if we just look at it in a narrow context of technology. Looking at them we can marvel at the ability of the human minds` intellectual ability. But we must stop at that. In the larger context, it is just a half baked fix (which might end up creating more problems).
These are problems related more to our approach to life, world, and humanity, which need a holistic approach. Why do we think we can solve them by sending mirrors up into the sky?
