I am worried that given Covid-19, even in the event of a climate disaster, governments are so ineffective that we will not be able to do geoengineering. But it seems like a very effective solution, and she will appreciate being able to learn about and maybe spread awareness of it in her circles. And it certainly seems much more tractable than multilateral unanimous consensus! Thanks!
Part of the COVID response is China being willing to put serious effort into COVID zero. If in 20-30 years the Chinese government believes that warming is a serious issue and China benefits from cooling the world down, they are likely going to take action.
With geoengineering there’s a dynamic where a country that unilaterally decides to do geoengineering has the potential to get a lot of power if the international community acknowledges that they manage the ideal temperature. That dynamic pressures other countries in taking action as well.
Adjusted for inflation the US spent $257 billion on the apollo project which was basically a prestige project. Starship class rockets and other innovations likely reduce the $750 billion by an order of magnitude so that the geoengineering project would be cheaper for the Chinese than the apollo program was for the US.
From the Chinese perspective, it would be a great prestige project that builds up space capabilities and adds a lot of geopolitical power.
I am worried that given Covid-19, even in the event of a climate disaster, governments are so ineffective that we will not be able to do geoengineering. But it seems like a very effective solution, and she will appreciate being able to learn about and maybe spread awareness of it in her circles. And it certainly seems much more tractable than multilateral unanimous consensus! Thanks!
Part of the COVID response is China being willing to put serious effort into COVID zero. If in 20-30 years the Chinese government believes that warming is a serious issue and China benefits from cooling the world down, they are likely going to take action.
With geoengineering there’s a dynamic where a country that unilaterally decides to do geoengineering has the potential to get a lot of power if the international community acknowledges that they manage the ideal temperature. That dynamic pressures other countries in taking action as well.
Adjusted for inflation the US spent $257 billion on the apollo project which was basically a prestige project. Starship class rockets and other innovations likely reduce the $750 billion by an order of magnitude so that the geoengineering project would be cheaper for the Chinese than the apollo program was for the US.
From the Chinese perspective, it would be a great prestige project that builds up space capabilities and adds a lot of geopolitical power.