Climate change is a divisive topic, and there are any number of views about it. On one hand we have the Chicken Littles like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who believe that earth’s climate is warming, human beings are responsible for it, and if “we” don’t do anything about it the earth will end in 12 years. On the other hand you have climate change skeptics who don’t believe that the earth’s climate is warming and who discount the role human beings play in climate change and the earth’s temperature. And then you have a number of views in between, including those who believe that earth is warming but that the sun, not human beings, plays the dominant role in global warming and climate change.
Some scientists who believe that last view are starting to experiment with geoengineering to block out the sun. Their plan is to launch balloons into the atmosphere and spray particles of calcium carbonate (a.k.a. chalk) at high levels in the atmosphere to simulate the effects of volcanic ash from an erupting volcano. Those calcium carbonate particles would block out the sun, leading to a cooling effect. But is that really a good idea to start messing with the climate in such a way?
Everyone seems to forget the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816. That unseasonably cold year, which saw frost every month in areas of the United States and Europe, and unseasonably cold weather throughout the world, led to some of the worst famines seen in Europe that century. Crops failed, farmers and businessmen went into bankruptcy, and the Northern Hemisphere saw frigid weather and temperature swings all year long. The cause: volcanic eruptions.
The eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 was the major causal factor, as it expelled a massive amount of volcanic ash into the atmosphere. It had been preceded by five other volcanoes from 1808 to 1814 that also had filled the atmosphere with ash, leading to several years of poor harvests, with 1816 being the worst. Do we really want scientists trying to block out the sun to mimic those volcanic eruptions?
What happens if the scientists miscalculate and put too much calcium carbonate into the atmosphere? Or what happens if the effects of the calcium carbonate are greater than predicted? Or what if a volcano erupts in spectacular fashion and adds its own ash to the cooling effect generated by these scientists? This is a horrendous idea, but not surprising coming from those whose knowledge surpasses their wisdom.
These scientists think that they can engineer the world, not realizing that by playing God they could very well unleash a catastrophe that could lead to millions of deaths worldwide. That’s what happens when climate change ideology trumps common sense. In trying to bring about heaven on earth, those utopians who try to force their views on us end up bringing about a living hell instead.
This article was originally posted on Red Tea News.
