TL;DR: viable last-ditch option would resemble Highlander 2 in terms of putting one corporation in charge of “protecting” the planet.
Okay, so I was keeping the idea of using deliberate “global dimming” in my back-pocket just so it wouldn’t worm it’s way through the zeitgeist. It’s a viable last-ditch option, but it comes with steep drawbacks. But since we’re here now, fuck it.
We already know that, thanks to requiring shipping vessels to use low-sulfur fuel, cloud seeding can actually reduce solar gain. The problem is that it also blocks out a lot of the light needed for photosynthesis. So this approach punches down on the environment in a completely different way. As for people, while global warming will absolutely impact agriculture, so would less sunlight.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-low-sulphur-shipping-rules-are-affecting-global-warming/
So we could just use airplanes and cloud-seeding. Or we could increase particulates in the atmosphere. Or, as Elon suggests, fly satellites to do the job. The tradeoffs here are awful: disrupt where rain happens, raise lung cancer risks globally, or catapult one man into multi-trilliionaire status while they charge every government on earth for the privilege. Plus, each of those options are more or less forever if we never get around to carbon sequestration that actually works.
We should seriously considering doing anything else first.
Edit: I know I didn’t invent this idea. Rather, I just didn’t want to add to any consensus around it.
Plus, each of those options are more or less forever if we never get around to carbon sequestration that actually works.
Obligatory reminder that the easiest by far way of sequestering carbon is to simply not extract it from the ground in the first place.
That’s such an unhelpful statement. Idk what made you think it’s obligatory. Everyone is talking about ACTIVE SEQUESTRATION. Further extraction of more carbon from current natural sequestration is undoing what already has been done. We need to create ways to artificially sequester the carbon while ALSO limiting emissions.
Emphasis on “tiny” adjustments, per the article. I don’t think Elmo comprehends just how much surface area is going to be required to make any measurable let alone meaningful impact, nor the cost of hefting all of that mass up there and keeping it there.
This whole crackhead idea is completely infeasible. But he probably hopes it’ll help him scam the government out of a bunch of money trying (and failing), while wasting vast amounts of rocket fuel.
Where’s Marjorie?? THERE HE HIS MARGE THE WEATHER CONTROLLER
Can people stop listening to this lying robot dicked fuck?
Wait!? The Democrats already have weather control technology!? /S
Can we just launch elon into orbit? Preferably from a cannon.
Even though, knowing how physics works, putting anything in orbit with only a cannon is not possible, no matter how powerful it is, I wholeheartedly agree we should try it with Elon anyway.
deleted by creator
You and I know he will most likely become pink mist but him and his dipshit fans boys don’t. We could have them all there cheering and them boom it’s raining fascist. I can’t think of a more beautiful sight.
We already have the answer of how to deal with this:
We can and have shut this thing down when the political will is available. The efficiencies developed in agriculture and manufacturing have shown that the vast majority of economic activity is effectively idle, not necessary, and purely for the purpose of creating the impression of larger economies than are actually present.
No one starved due to lock-downs. No governments collapsed. Netflix views increased. People took on hobbies and got more exercise.
We have an exact template of what we would need to do to save our climate future.
All that we lack is the political will. And no, geoengineering solutions to prop up and support a broken approach to economics isn’t a solution.
next pandemic when?
No one starved due to lock-downs.
Not true, the pandemic caused major inflation, doing the same for a prolonged period of time would be devastating.
But there are ways we can cut CO2 without increasing inflation. Like make the use of private jets illegal.
USA could cut their CO2 in half by following the model Denmark has developed since the 70’s.
Denmark has higher industrial and agricultural production than USA, and has more data centers per capita than USA, yet we only release half the CO2 per capita. And that’s without using nuclear!While I agree that we have the technology to wildly decreas emissions by just cutting down on inefficient production, I do want to point out people did infact starve due to covid/lockdowns. Many lost jobs, big corps took the opportunity to run mom and pop shops out of buissness, prices skyrocketed. My family wen’t from scrapping by to relying on food drives
It cost governments around the world trillions of dollars to get through COVID… The uk’s debt went from 80% of GDP to 100% in the space of just 18 months. It’s hardly a viable economic plan to carry out on an ongoing basis.
Many non essential industries and travel just completely froze And guess what? Co2 production barely even stuttered according to your graph.
The solution is to transition into a renewable, prosperous, circular economy. Not go backwards into poverty.
Yet another billion dollar grift from the muskrat…
Dude sucks for sure, but real talk: I think when the seas rise and the food gets scarce and there’s no way we can avoid doing something, the powers that be will resort to some kind of geo-engineering BS. It’ll be a coin flip if that kills all of us
Yes, but there are far easier and cheaper ways to go. Dude must have just read about using things from space to control sunlight input and thought he’s such a genius surely he can figure it out. I guess he skipped over all the debunking that such ideas get.
And crucially, once we jump on the geoengineering train, we better not stop. It will only slow things and buy more time, but if we stop after beginning, the spike will be catastrophic (probably, there’s still so much we learn, but it won’t be a solution). But we will go that route, because economic health is far more important than anything else, and never plateaus by its very nature. There must be growth, or it all crashes down.
Yeah. Talking about geoengineering is great.
Yeah but can we not give the control of the entire planet’s climate to Elon Musk’s AI?
Stop polluting and plant trees.
Rocketing giant mirrors is not only stupid but also temporary.
You are not wrong, though everything is temporary. That is not a reason to not try and develop new technologies and methods to solve problems.
The error is in the focus; we have some tested and tried methods we should apply before we work on the far future stuff, indeed.
There was never any need for any rocket science. Stop Oil, move to renewables, go vegetarianish. We have all of that now. We’ve had most of it for decades.
By that logic there is pretty much no need for anything in modern society. Heck, no need for humans to exist at all. Yet here we are, innovation is in our DNA. Better to be real about it.
That’s your logic? Goddamn.
First of all, define “being”.
Then define “real”.
And lastly, define “it”.It seems like you might have skipped a few steps.
And there is your problem. You just want to argue. In that, I am not interested. Have a nice one!
Fair enough then, enjoy.
“Guy who sells rockets proposes launching a million satellites”
He’s a grifting idiot. He cant even get self driving cars working. Until he finishes that work he should sit in the corner with a dunce hat on and leave the talking to people who arent failures.
“A large solar-powered AI satellite constellation would be able to prevent global warming by making tiny adjustments in how much solar energy reached Earth,” Musk tweeted, apropos of seemingly nothing.
“It would only take tiny adjustments to prevent global warming or global cooling for that matter,” he added. “Earth has been a snowball many times in the past.”
Someone must have told him about the really cool documentary they saw called Geostorm, Narrated by Gerard Butler.
I think launching satellites is a terrible idea but I do think Geo engineering is a necessity. We are on a good trajectory to phase out most fossil fuels simply because the economics make more sense. If we can do something to avoid the worst of climate change we need to do it because the fossil fuel industry is not going to give up massive profits to save the planet unfortunately. Even if there are side effects theres no way it’s worse than letting climate change happen.
Ah… Souls in the Great Machine… A good book, but a terrible guide for humanity’s development.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE CONTAINS POTENTIALLY LETHAL AMOUNTS OF SARCASM:
I’m sure this will be a complete success, and I see no downsides.
