Ep 21 – Clima Ex Machina

Episode 21 - "Clima Ex Machina" The global climate is in bad shape and quickly getting worse. The debate as to how or why is long over (from both data and irrelevance) and the conversation is now turning to "Well what now?" The IPCC has set down an ambitious plan to get us off our fossil fuel fix, but it involves a lot of unproven technologies to help us stay under 2C. Further, many researchers believe this won't be enough and are proposing their own megascale engineering projects to try and keep Earth from slowly cooking us. This week on Ashes Ashes we tackle the world of geoengineering, exploring what's realistic, what's likely, and just how much trouble are we really in. Chapters 09:26 Cloud Seeding 11:28 Albedo 13:29 Stratospheric Aerosol Injection 15:10 Cirrus Cloud Thinning 19:48 Accidental Cloud Seeding 24:15 Moral Hazard 27:03 Halting Ice Melt 30:24 Simulate Ice? 31:17 Addressing the Underlying Problem 32:08 Ocean Iron Fertilization 36:07 Colonize Mars 40:16 Reforestation & Afforestation 46:35 "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" 49:38 The Final Frontier 55:04 BECCS 1:00:57 DACS 1:04:46 Just Scratching the Surface 1:06:58 What Can We Do? 1:09:32 Close Out A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org. Find more information along with relevant news and links on your favorite social network @ashesashescast. CC BY-SA 4.0