Geo-engineering is a misplaced notion

Many engineers seem to have lost all perspective on life and cannot see clear evidence staring them in the face

Whenever I read an opinion on the importance of geo-engineering planet earth such as Colin Baglin’s, I laugh at how preposterous a notion. I will admit, in the 21st Century there is a very clear split between the men of faith and the men of science, but it was not always so. Engineers of old acted out of some kind of basis in common sense. Nowadays, many engineers seem to have lost all perspective on life and, blinded by technological possibility, miss the ‘bleeding obvious’; they cannot see the clear evidence staring them in the face every day, and consider that their well-meaning efforts to save the planet might actually amount to anything more than a massive waste of time and resources.

The suggestion of geo-engineering is a bit like suggesting that we consider putting more global effort into ensuring that planet earth continues to spin, with clockwork accuracy, in perfect proximity to other planets millennium after millennium. Or ensure that the air and water supply continues to be purified year after year, or that food continues to grow and that previous organisms are decomposed and their constituent parts cleverly recycled. The earth, as a closed system, is functioning pretty well without any help from humans whatsoever. When you really take the time to sit down and ponder this point; how insignificant we are when it comes to the really big things that happen every day, we must surely come to the conclusion that geo-engineering is a well-meaning but misplaced notion. If anything, geo-engineering should encompass changing the way we engineer the fabric of our lives to take into account these natural global changes, not a means to try and stop them from happening.

Andrew Goodman, London

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