Earth Masters: Playing god With the Climate

What if there were a magic bullet to fix our ailing planet? What if it meant seizing control of Earth's climate? Clive Hamilton investigates the huge risks of reaching for desperate measures to save the planet, explains the science accessibly and uncovers the worrying motives of those promoting them. As we collectively contemplate upping the ante on the same arrogant logic that created the climate crisis, we could ask for no wiser nor more trustworthy guide than Clive Hamilton. A dazzling, multilayered exploration of the strange and terrifying world of geoengineering.' - Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine While Washington, London and Canberra fiddle, the planet burns. It has become painfully clear that the big democracies won't take the hard decisions to halt climate change. Climate scientists now expect the worst, and they're considering a response which sounds like science fiction: climate engineering. This means large-scale manipulation of the Earth's climate using grand technological interventions, like spraying sulphur compounds into the upper atmosphere to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet, or transforming the chemistry of the world's oceans so they soak up more carbon. The potential risks are enormous: disrupting the food chain, damaging the ozone layer, the loss of monsoon rains in Asia - the list goes on. It is messing with nature on a scale we've never before seen, and it's attracting a flood of interest from scientists, venture capitalists and oil companies. We have reached the end of the epoch of climate stability that allowed human civilisation to flourish, and the end of the era of 'progress'. Like an angry beast woken from a long slumber, climate instability is dangerous and resists efforts to control it. In his characteristically lucid and passionate style, Clive Hamilton spells out the implications for all of us. 'I am in awe of what Clive Hamilton has done in Earthmasters .' - James Gustave Speth, author of Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment This book goes to the heart of the unfolding reality of the twenty-first century: international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have failed and before the end of the century Earth is now projected to be warmer than it has been for 15 million years. The question, 'can the crisis be avoided?' has been superseded by a more chilling one, 'what can be done to prevent the devastation of the living world?' And the disturbing answer, now under the wide discussion both within and outside the scientific community, is to seize control of the climate of Earth itself. The author begins by exploring the range of technologies now being developed in the field of geoengineering, the intentional, enduring, large-scale manipulation of Earth's climate system. He lays out the arguments for and against climate engineering, and reveals the extent of vested interests linking researchers, venture capitalists and corporations. He examines what it means for human beings to be making plans to control the planet's atmosphere, probes the uneasiness we feel with the notion of exercising technological mastery over nature, and challenges the ways we think about ourselves and our place in the natural world. -- Book jacket. While Washington, London and Canberra fiddle, the planet burns. It has become painfully clear that the big democracies won't take the hard decisions to halt climate change. Climate scientists now expect the worst, and they're contemplating a response which sounds like science fiction: climate engineering. This means large scale manipulation of the Earth's climate using grand technological interventions, like spraying sulphur compounds into the upper atmosphere to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet, or transforming the chemistry of the world's oceans so they soak up more carbon. The potential risks are enormous: disrupting the food chain, damaging the ozone layer, the loss of monsoon rains in Asia - the list goes on. It is messing with nature on a scale we've never before seen, and it's attracting a flood of interest from scientists, venture capitalists and oil companies. This is also the end of the climate stability which has allowed humans to flourish, and it is the end of the 'progress' which emerged with the scientific revolution of the Enlightenment. In his characteristically lucid and passionate style, Clive Hamilton spells out the implications for all of us What if there were a magic bullet to fix our ailing planet? What if it meant seizing control of Earth's climate? Clive Hamilton investigates the huge risks of reaching for desperate measures to save the planet, explains the science accessibly and uncovers the worrying motives of those promoting them. As we collectively contemplate upping the ante on the same arrogant logic that created the climate crisis, we could ask for no wiser nor more trustworthy guide than Clive Hamilton. A dazzling, multilayered exploration of the strange and terrifying world of geoengineering.' - Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine While Washington, London and Canberra fiddle, the planet burns. It has become painfully clear that the big democracies won't take the hard decisions to halt climate change. Climate scientists now expect the worst, and they're considering a response which sounds like science fiction: climate engineering. This means large-scale manipulation of the Earth's... SCI092000,book What if there were a magic bullet to fix our ailing planet? What if it meant seizing control of Earth's climate? Clive Hamilton investigates the huge risks of reaching for desperate measures to save the planet, explains the science accessibly and uncovers the worrying motives of those promoting them.As we collectively contemplate upping the ante on the same arrogant logic that created the climate crisis, we could ask for no wiser nor more trustworthy guide than Clive Hamilton. A dazzling, multilayered exploration of the strange and terrifying world of geoengineering.' - Naomi Klein, author of __The Shock Doctrine__While Washington, London and Canberra fiddle, the planet burns. It has become painfully clear that the big democracies won't take the hard decisions to halt climate change. Climate scientists now expect the worst, and they're considering a response which sounds like science fiction: climate engineering.This means large-scale manipulation of the Earth's... List of Figures and TablesPrefaceAcknowledgements1 Why Geoengineering?2 Sucking Carbon3 Regulating Sunlight4 The Players and the Public5 Promethean Dreams6 Atmospheric Geopolitics7 Ethical Anxieties8 This Goodly FrameNotesIndex