Emergency medicine for our climate fever
1,920,868 views | Kelly Wanser • TEDSummit 2019
As we recklessly warm the planet by pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, some industrial emissions also produce particles that reflect sunshine back into space, putting a check on global warming that we're only starting to understand. Climate activist Kelly Wanser asks: Can we engineer ways to harness this effect and further reduce warming? Learn more about the promises and risks of "cloud brightening" -- and how it could help restore our climate to health.
As we recklessly warm the planet by pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, some industrial emissions also produce particles that reflect sunshine back into space, putting a check on global warming that we're only starting to understand. Climate activist Kelly Wanser asks: Can we engineer ways to harness this effect and further reduce warming? Learn more about the promises and risks of "cloud brightening" -- and how it could help restore our climate to health.
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About the speaker
Kelly Wanser helps study and invent global-scale technological interventions that could save humanity from the worst effects of climate change.
The Guardian, 2019 | Article
"If all else fails"
Man-made global cooling is scary, but may become necessary.
National Research Council, et al. | National Academies Press, 2015 | Book
Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth, National Academy of Sciences
A scientific assessment of possible methods of directly cooling climate — from painting roofs to plastic on ice to mirrors in space. It reviews the science with evidence supporting reflecting sunlight from the atmosphere as the most promising approach.
Oliver Morton | Princeton University Press, 2017 | Book
The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World
As with all books by the esteemed science author and Economist editor, a marvelously well-written, captivating tour of the issues, deeply grounded in science and history. He makes a compelling case for technological interventions in climate.
Stewart Brand | Penguin Books, 2010 | Book
Whole Earth Discipline: Why Dense Cities, Nuclear Power, Transgenic Crops, Restored Wildlands, and Geoengineering Are Necessary
A healthy planet that supports humans requires sophisticated technologies, used wisely, to provide the scale of capabilities they need while preserving the natural systems they rely on. Thought-provoking ideas outside the environmental canon, from the prophetic environmentalist and futurist who helped change the way we see the planet and our future on it.
David Grinspoon | Grand Central Publishing, 2016 | Book
Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future
Seen from the perspective of an astrobiologist on another planet, the intelligent life on Earth has been altering the planet's geology. But they are accidentally trashing the place, and their intelligence may need to be applied to ensure it can support humans into the future. A profound and entertainingly written gem.
David Biello | Scribner, 2017 | Book
The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth's Newest Age
Powerful individuals and technological innovation may not be able to solve the climate problem on their own, but they play a pivotal and hopeful role, wonderfully illustrated here. Or, as Esquire says, "A futurist ray of hope amid the usual denial and despair."
Kelly Wanser | Medium, 2017 | Article
"Solar Geoengineering to Reduce Warming in the Earth System: The imperative for research"
Read my written testimony for the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Subcommittee on Environment and Subcommittee on Energy Hearing — Geoengineering: Innovation, Research, and Technology, from November 8, 2017.
Kelly Wanser | Medium, 2018 | Article
"As climate risks increase, will geoengineering become a safer alternative?"
Public debate often places climate risks in the context of "this century" or "by 2100." But scientists are increasingly highlighting the risks of devastating and irreversible impacts in just 20 or 30 years. This is within our lifetimes, and certainly within our children's.
Learn more
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
Donate to support research in options to ensure a safer future.