By Sophie Alexander Silicon Valley is developing shiny solutions to cut carbon emissions. But an increasing number of investors and founders are planning for a bleaker future where we need to cool the Earth by blocking the sun. They see two potential fates, and both are premises of science fiction novels: Kim Stanley Robinson's 2020 The Ministry for the Future and Neal Stephenson's 2021 Termination Shock. These novels came up regularly as I explored the growing Silicon Valley fascination with what's known as solar geoengineering or solar radiation management. In The Ministry for the Future, unheard of heat kills millions in India. With no other option, the country turns to geoengineering to protect its citizens from climate change. Termination Shock explores what happens when a billionaire decides to block the sun by building the world's largest gun to shoot sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere before the worst effects of a heating planet kick in. While dimming the sun to cool the Earth is an incredibly controversial idea, it's becoming a go-to area for tech philanthropists. "We have no opportunity for survival on this planet unless you reflect back sunlight," said Chris Sacca, a venture capitalist who's invested in Uber, Twitter and Instagram, at a 2023 event in New York. "If we don't do it as a species, it's all over." He's just one of the tech elite funding research, experiments and small deployments of the technology. Proclaiming that it's geoengineering or doom might sound dramatic. But deploying it might not be so far-fetched. "If there is a planetary emergency and if we need to bring the global temperatures down within a couple of years, the only option is solar engineering," said Govindasamy Bala, one of the first researchers to model the impacts. The problem is while we know solar geoengineering would almost certainly cool the globe, we don't know very much about the societal and environmental impacts beyond that. The tech world's move fast and break things mentality is concerning in the face of conducting a planetary experiment. But for some in Silicon Valley, we're not moving fast enough. Termination Shock was the inspiration for Make Sunsets, a startup that launches sulfur dioxide-filled balloons and sells "cooling credits." The company is a thorn in the side of a lot of the academics and nonprofit leaders I talked to, who see it as little more than a political stunt that's eroding trust. Neal Stephenson told me he hoped anyone inspired by his book would read the whole thing because there's no "happily ever after." But Luke Iseman, Make Sunsets' co-founder, says he's just trying to do something to solve climate change while everyone else drags their feet. Read the full story, including a list of who's funding research and startups looking to block the sun. Subscribe for even more key climate and energy news. |
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