Tech and the Weather: Storm Clouds Ahead?
The weather in parts of the country and the world has been extreme lately, to put it mildly, and the sector – tech – that brought you such breakthroughs as emojis and planet-saving lab-grown meats, are turning their focus to the weather itself, although note to self re lab-grown meats, “The claim that the process reduced CO2 emissions over conventional livestock farming has been comprehensively demolished: one estimate is that it increases emissions by between four times and 25 times as much as reared meat. The animal, of course, can perform its own exercise by itself, for free, while the nutrients it requires are either free or cheap. It also enhances the land on which it grazes. Producing the product requires far more energy than leaving, say, a bovine in the field to produce the same all-natural result,” MSN reported. “The alternative proteins bubble has burst.”
So next up: the weather and this just in: “A growing number of Silicon Valley founders and investors are backing research into blocking the sun by spraying reflective particles high in the atmosphere or making clouds brighter. The goal is to quickly cool the planet,” Bloomberg reported…”Reflecting sunlight to cool the planet — known as solar radiation management (SRM) — could come with dangerous consequences such as shifting rainfall patterns and changing the prevalence of diseases like malaria, to say nothing of the potential geopolitical chaos. Those risks have scientists urging caution and governments slowly working to build policies. But the tech world has rarely shied away from testing a new product and figuring out the bugs later, and prominent philanthropists are dedicating more money than ever to these radical ideas.”
“Flubbed climate test won’t deter rich donors from altering the sky,” Politico chimed in. “They funded a failed experiment to block the sun. They plan to try again.”