Bill Gates Wants To Block the Sun? Uhhh…..No.

Here’s a great illustration of the horrific effects social media can have on ignorant minds.

Reader A: This is downright frightening…. and of the utmost arrogance.  Bill Gates has no right to make this kind of plan or decision for our Cosmic Commons.

Reader B: He’s a dangerous moron that (sic) doesn’t even understand that we are actually heading towards an ice age.

Let’s calm ourselves and learn a little bit about this subject.

For decades, scientists have been discussing geoengineering, i.e., actions that can be taken to control the amount of energy that the Earth receives from the sun that gets trapped in the atmosphere. No one wants to use it, least of all the people who understand it best.  That’s because the more we know about the subject the more aware we become of its unintended consequences, not to mention other thorny issues, like choosing who should be in charge of regulating our planet’s thermostat.

Having said this, most people understand that it’s possible that human civilization will arrive at a point where it’s our best option. The temperature of both the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans is rising (not falling), and this is resulting in sea-level rise, droughts, famines, potable water shortages, wildfires, superstorms, and loss of biodiversity.  Ocean acidification is proceeding at a rate such that, in a matter of only 50 years or so, the only aquatic animals that survive will be jellyfish.  These affects are not just unpleasant; they are potentially lethal to hundreds of millions of people.

As such, geoengineering is a real option if our civilization is otherwise unable to put an end to the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.  As they say, “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

Let me add this: Stop falling for conspiracy theories, several of which surround Bill Gates.  No, he’s not trying to enslave the world population, either.