Geoengineering (or climate engineering) is a practice at the scale of the planet Earth itself to reduce global warming or remove carbon dioxide in efforts to mitigate climate change. Controversy and caution surround such massive ideas, and yet it is plausible that some of the innovative “solutions” may be of use to our current or future conditions. These include biochar, enhanced weathering, solar radiation management, and other more radical ideas such as mirrors in space or stratospheric aerosol injection. Debate on these ideas often becomes influenced by moral dilemmas, even as the scientific modeling can project plausible beneficial outcomes. Fear of “unintended disruptions” in natural systems or worries that success will embolden more harmful pollution, for good reasons, and governance is also a major concern because such actions are not limited to the borders we have on our maps.

In the book Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto (2009), author Stewart Brand gives research and reasoning about why humans should embrace “planet craft” such as “benevolent ecosystem engineering.” It’s worth a look as we explore all options to help with ever-increasing environmental problems. Also worth a deeper dive are the current range of approaches and technologies identified by Systems Change Labs described and analyzed in the link below.