Just before Christmas 2022, the firm ‘Make Sunsets’ acknowledged it had launched weather balloons containing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. The launches took place in April 2022, in Baja California, Mexico, months before the company was even incorporated.

When quizzed about it, the company’s CEO, Luke Iseman, was unrepentant. “It’s morally wrong, in my opinion, for us not to be doing this”, he said, adding that it’s important “to do this as quickly and safely as we can,” because of the threat of man-made climate change.

Critics, including geoengineers, say Make Sunset’s efforts are dangerous, not only because the field is very much in its infancy, but also because they could have wildly different effects from those intended. …

Geoengineering.

Geoengineering has been receiving growing attention as a potential “solution” to the “Climate Crisis” in recent years. Last year the corporate global governance outfit the ‘World Economic Forum’ posted a video suggesting climate change could be reversed through the use of “space bubbles” – orbital rafts that would reduce solar radiation reaching Earth – or through spraying aerosols into the upper atmosphere.

The technology has been in consideration for over a decade, with a variety of governmental bodies and organizations, including the US Congress, UK Parliament and the Royal Society expressing interest in research and small-scale trials.

A two-part study released in 2015 by the US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine noted that reductions in emissions should take precedence over the use of such technology, whose potential for “large-scale deployment” is still unknown. The report also noted that potential risks and side-effects needed to be investigated. The technology should not be used at “climate-altering scales” until these risks have been properly evaluated, it said.

CEO Luke Iseman said that the first launches were simply tests to confirm it would work; although he also stated no monitoring equipment was included to track whether the sulfur dioxide was released as intended. …

The company already has plans for further launches, with increased payloads of sulfur dioxide, added telemetry, and measuring equipment. …

While some have been quick to dismiss the launches as a publicity stunt – especially since they weren’t even properly monitored – others worry about the privatization of such potentially dangerous technology. Fears about allowing corporates to possess the means to alter the climate are well founded, they claim. …

By Whose Consent?

The issue of informed consent is a live issue, given the events of the past three years. Once again, decisions of major import are being made on the public’s behalf without knowledge or approval. Although the immediate implications may seem less serious than our liberties being denied during the pandemic, the potential threat to our lives and livelihoods is arguably far worse if geoengineering is allowed to continue unabated. The retort that “nobody consented to your [i.e. our, Western] carbon emissions in the first place” is fatuous. We all obviously consent to that when we consume. …

As the climate-change agenda deepens, and alarm grows – or is made to grow – the place of consent in any response diminishes. This is no accident. By framing the issue as one of inevitability, individual decision, and the established decision-making forms of our broader communities up to the level of the nation, suddenly no longer matter. …

Given the pace of change, and the determination of our leaders – and now captains of industry – to reshape the world with or without our consent, we need to find ways to make our voices heard, fast. We must realize that it makes no difference to withdraw consent retroactively, especially when what’s done cannot be undone.

What do you think of these geoengineering efforts? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

(Excerpt from The National Pulse. Photo Credit: Canva)