Think Green Live Clean

At this stage in our ongoing climate discussion, you’ve probably heard the word “geoengineering” being thrown around. It is, after all, the newest fad in mainstream talk about solutions to our Earth’s climate change problem. But what, exactly, is geoengineering? According to Wikipedia, “Geoengineering (or climate engineering) is usually taken to mean proposals to deliberately manipulate the Earth’s climate to counteract the effects of global warming from greenhouse gas emissions.” In other words, it’s using technology to fiddle, quite directly, with the environment.

What does this mean to you and the Earth? Well, considering the amount of geoengineered solutions out there, the impact could be big or small. For example, neither you nor the Earth’s temperature would be too effected if your county employed a proposed solution of painting all roofs white to reflect heat back into the atmosphere. On the other hand, if your state employed such proposed solutions as planting large fields of GM flowers that are “reflective” or “the idea of dumping iron particles at sea to increase its ability to grow more algae that would in turn absorb more CO2”, one can see the huge dangers of unintended consequences.

So before you jump of the Technology for Earth bandwagon, ask yourself if the outcomes, all of the outcomes, are going to be beneficial. Daring to put into practice mostly un-tested theories and change the climate is not to be taken lightly, and something in which we must all be cautious, prudent, and thoughtful about.