Science needs to be at the table
It is clear that we are now living through the tumultuous times that climate scientists predicted, as the Earth system is trying to catch up with the rapid changes brought about by sustained increases in carbon emissions. The Earth’s effort to achieve a new equilibrium is fraught with large swings in familiar patterns, causing unusually wet storms, sustained droughts, widespread wildfires, intense heat waves, pronounced low-oxygen zones in oceans and more.
Numerous international climate mitigation efforts are underway — development of clean, renewable energy sources, progress toward more efficient energy use — which aim to lower carbon emissions and release the stress on Mother Earth, and we certainly need to double down on these efforts. There are also growing numbers of conversations about how we can reverse the trend of increasing carbon in the atmosphere, and how we can use ingenuity and invention toward climate intervention. Many start-up companies are considering ideas about carbon burial and sequestration or artificial cloud generation to decrease solar warming. And venture capital firms are taking notice, providing funding to explore these ideas.
Yet, many scientists are shying away from engaging in these conversations. They understand just how interconnected the Earth system is, and that any intervention will likely have cascading effects, leading to new feedbacks and perhaps even tipping points that are difficult to predict. Climate intervention is a bold and scary approach to some of the most daunting problems humanity has ever faced, and unless we do it right, it could make the situation still worse.
But this is exactly why science needs to be at the table when discussions are being had about climate intervention technologies. If we are not part of the solution, we will be remembered as part of the problem. I encourage my colleagues to be a part of these conversations, and bring your best ideas, your cutting-edge science and your optimism for the future. With the right science, we can ensure from the outset that all repercussions of a climate intervention strategy are considered. With the right science, we can ensure that ideas that would lead to massive negative impacts are abandoned quickly. With the right science, we can responsibly iterate towards a future where we utilize the Earth’s resources in ways that are truly sustainable.
Oregon
Tuba Özkan-Haller
