Are we playing Gods?
This week on “Climate Change: Challenges and Solutions” we were focusing on the climate modeling, and the geoengineering dilemma. We learned our climate modelling is actually reliable, and we should pay attention to that, since about all models are telling us the same story. We need to cut out our emissions or there will be great consequences. You can try for yourself, playing with this model http://my2050.decc.gov.uk/, it gives you an idea of the type of measures we all need to make in order to make some real difference. We also learned the importance of the human factor in climate modeling, particularly after 1970. This is another proof of our impact on this planet. The second topic of this week was geoengineering. Geoengineering is about how we can modify our climate with technologies, by removing carbon dioxide or by cooling the earth. Either cases are open to big discussions, since we are talking about “playing Gods”, in my opinion.
There is this joke and I feel like we are doing the same but with our Earth. We have two choices. We could geoengineering the climate with minimum knowledge of the consequences, or we could cut our emissions. Well, it seems that cutting the emissions is the extreme solution. I am not saying that change our entire economy is easy, but in comparison with the other solution maybe it is worth a try before we must face the tremendous scenarios we have if we do not change our path. Again, it is a choice between what we could lose now, and what we could lose in 20 years. Maybe it’s time for the “extreme” solution.
