Excuse Us, While We Fix the Sky: WEIRD Supermen and Climate Intervention

As alarm over global warming spreads, a radical idea is taking hold. An emerging breed of so-called climate engineers is promoting invasive techniques to cool the planet through albedo modification and so-called “negative carbon emissions” will be necessary. Shoot sulphates or reflective nanoparticles into the upper atmosphere, turning the blue sky milky white. Make the clouds thicker and brighter. Fertilise the oceans to stimulate massive algae blooms that turn the blue seas soupy green. Suck CO2 out of the air with hundreds of thousands of giant artificial trees. Store the captured CO2 safely underground for millennia. While these proposals seem edgy and exciting, they often test the limits of scientific, technological, and institutional possibility and overlook the political, ethical, and social consequences of managing the world’s climate. Advocates of climate engineering, with vanishingly few exceptions, are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) males with superman complexes. Their views are short-sighted, dangerous, and “barking mad.” This chapter provides historical perspectives, social context, and a gendered analysis of these dangerous proposals.