Climate Intervention for Human Survival
By Robin Collins
Review of two books: Intervention Earth: Life-Saving Ideas from the World’s Climate Engineers, by Gwynne Dyer (2024); and Pandora’s Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climater Intervention, by Wake Smith (2022). This review was previously published in Peace Magazine, April-June 2024.
If you think the climate situation is noticeably worse than five years ago, you are not imagining it. The two books under review here agree and focus on why “net zero” and an energy transition away from fossil fuels are insufficient solutions to the crisis. Gwynne Dyer and Wake Smith cover similar territory. Dyer is a storyteller with an emphasis on quoting from the 100 climate experts he consulted (including Wake Smith) about climate interventions, and in particular Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Both authors lead us ultimately, convincingly, even reluctantly towards SRM advocacy: The reflection of the sun’s heat back out into space. If you are inclined to be skeptical of human engineered solutions, their arguments should challenge. Smith and Dyer both support the adage that only loss instructs, and they see resistance by many environmentalists and activists, not to mention governments, to embrace climate engineering.
Robin Collins is a CPG Board member.
For the full reviews, continue here: CollinsReview_Dyer.Smith.PMJuly2024