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Proposals like this seem promising but are hard to take seriously when they refuse to acknowledge potential risks. Merely stating the risk is “very low” does no
by oofbey 4y ago
Proposals like this seem promising but are hard to take seriously when they refuse to acknowledge potential risks. Merely stating the risk is “very low” does nothing to persuade people’s legitimate concerns about climate engineering.
That said I’m all for climate engineering. Being scared of it is like telling somebody obese that they should stick to sugary soda because nutrasweet could have unknown health side effects. Or teaching abstinence instead of safe sex education.
I know all sorts of buttons are being pushed with these analogies. But we obviously have a massive problem on our hands. There is a path out (reducing fossil everything) that we know is extremely difficult to implement, and by all current measures not going to work. So rationally we absolutely should try alternatives - at least TRY. And not assume they are bad while continuing to yell at the world that they need to be more virtuous.
- maxerickson 4y agoIt seems like a project like this would be able to manage potential risks pretty well, scale up over time, gather data as you go, be prepared to stop, things like that.
- oofbey 4y agoI agree. I’d love to read about how they plan to monitor and react to such risks instead of just saying “nothing will go wrong!”
- maxerickson 4y agoThere is a faq answer about safety that is vague but sounds reasonably measured.
- robonerd 4y ago> be prepared to stop For very human reasons, this can be easier said than done. People often don't like to admit they were wrong.
- DennisP 4y agoAt least this would cost money, rather than making us money like the giant geoengineering project we're doing right now. That's making it really hard for people to admit they're wrong.
- robonerd 4y agoIf it costs money, then somebody must be making money. Whoever was responsible for manufacturing and distributing these iron salts would have an economic interest in keeping the project running.