An international group of scientists and experts in the field of geoengineering has issued a warning to the world: sun-dimming is dangerous, so leave it to the professionals.
Plans to mitigate the intensity of the Sun’s rays in order to curb global warming have been in the works for decades, causing alarm throughout the scientific community. Objectors to the planetary initiative have raised concerns about whether national governments ought to be blocking life-giving sunlight from reaching Earth’s surface, or if the project should be left to multinational corporations.
“Experiments on the environment that can potentially wreak untold havoc across borders should never be conducted by government bureaucrats,” cautioned Dr. Alap Patel, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Darmstadt in Germany. “That’s a job for corporate bureaucrats.”
The idea behind solar geoengineering stems from the goal to reduce global temperatures by using modern technology to decrease incoming UV rays. Proposals to accomplish this goal include the spraying of aerosols into the stratosphere to inhibit the radiation of solar energy. Less viable alternatives have also been suggested, such as coating the ionosphere with SPF 75 sunscreen and a worldwide deployment of really, really big umbrellas.
“What they want to do is completely crazy,” said Professor Henry O’Boyle of Stanford University’s Global Climate & Energy Project (GCEP). “Block the Sun? That’s insane. I can’t imagine there’s a single group of people on the planet to whom that power should be given, outside of the corporate world, of course.”
Intense opposition to the ambitious strategy has come from several human rights groups and numerous grassroots campaigns, some of which have adopted the motto, “Blocking Sunlight Must Be Done Right.” Chief among these groups’ demands is that any serious discussions that center on sun-dimming should be held with all individuals in mind.
“This is something that would affect every man, woman and child on the face of the earth,” warned Gabrielle Burger of Hashtag Human Rights. “We just want to be sure that whoever interferes with the sun and makes our planet completely uninhabitable is more or less aware of that.”