[Reading Science] How to Respond to Philanthropic Changes Invested in by Gates and Soros

Solar Geoengineering for Forced Temperature Reduction
Difficult to Prevent 1.5-Degree Rise Compared to Pre-Industrial Levels
Emerging as a Key Response Alternative to Prevent Climate Disasters
Increasing Investment from Silicon Valley

Smoke is rising from the chimney of a coal-fired power plant. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

In mid-February, temperatures in Seoul soared close to 20 degrees Celsius. A temperature change exceeding 30 degrees within just one to two weeks can only be explained by climate change. The extreme cold wave that struck the central North American continent last month also warned of the dangers of climate change.

The temperature rise, identified as the cause of climate change, shows no signs of stopping. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union (EU) climate monitoring agency, recently reported that the global average temperature increase over the past year has exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels for the first time. A 1.5-degree rise is the threshold scientists have set to prevent climate catastrophe.

Despite decades of efforts, temperature increases and abnormal weather events have not ceased, leading to the emergence of proactive climate change responses that involve human intervention in the climate rather than merely preventing pollutant emissions. A representative example is ‘Solar geoengineering,’ which aims to artificially cool the heated Earth.

Solar geoengineering attempts to lower the Earth's temperature by artificially injecting aerosols into the stratosphere. This method releases fine particles into the stratosphere to reflect some of the sunlight heading toward Earth back into space. It is a way to restore balance by reducing the impact of the sun on Earth's temperature amid rising internal temperatures.

James Hansen, a Columbia University professor who was the first among global scholars in 1988 to warn about the dangers of climate change, has judged that governments worldwide have failed to respond adequately despite his warning 35 years ago. He has proposed solar geoengineering as a solution. Hansen argues that reducing greenhouse gas emissions alone is insufficient and that some of the sunlight from the sun must be blocked.

Support for his claims is also spreading. According to the American media outlet Politico, climate scientists, environmental activists, and philanthropists who support geoengineering recently held an environmental protection fund meeting in San Francisco.

They anticipated that Silicon Valley venture capital would flood into solar geoengineering and discussed how to proceed with future actions. Politico assessed this event as an example showing that solar geoengineering, which had raised concerns about causing environmental pollution, is emerging as a mainstream climate change response.

John Holdren, a Harvard Kennedy School professor and former science advisor to President Barack Obama, evaluated, "This meeting is evidence that even environmentalists have come to recognize that they can no longer ignore solar geoengineering." Holdren argued that government attention is now necessary. Other meeting participants insisted that federal agencies such as the US Global Change Research Program should establish guidelines for solar geoengineering research.

Billionaires who have demanded active climate change responses are also growing interested in solar geoengineering. George Soros, a billionaire hedge fund manager, recently expressed support for solar geoengineering at the Munich Security Conference. Soros’s remarks were interpreted as indicating his intention to invest in the field. Bill Gates, Microsoft founder; Allen Eustace, former Google executive; and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, established by the HP founders, are supporting Harvard’s research. Hedge fund manager Jim Simons also announced that he would invest $50 million over five years in solar geoengineering projects through his charitable foundation.

Some argue that before solar geoengineering becomes a reality, it is essential to observe whether it can actually lower the Earth's temperature and whether it might cause environmental risks greater than those posed by climate change. Jerry McNerney, a US federal congressman, emphasized that solar geoengineering should be viewed from a scientific perspective and pointed out that "thorough investigation is essential before implementation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.