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Repairing the Biosphere: Human Protection of Earth's Climate

Concern over Earth's climate grows more widespread every day, as do the endless debates over what is happening and who is causing it. But instead of allocating blame and implementing potentially wild-goose-chase political agendas, what is needed is a strategy to SAVE the planet from hazards both human-made and natural. And here, Oberg argues that far from being the main problem, human technology may be the only solution - if we develop the will and the wisdom to intervene. He describes a strikingly original roadmap to our children's survival, and integrates the technological, philosophical and ethical foundation for this new path. Human technology will soon be able to 'fix' environmental problems on a global scale. This is not simply by refraining from harmful activities (for example, stop giving off greenhouse gases, etc.), although this is a critical part of any strategy. Added to it must be an activist policy of deliberate programs to clean up, repair, and strengthen the biosphere which keeps us alive, and to defend it against a multitude of hazards which are only now becoming known. It's not just the Hollywood asteroids (and nobody objects to 'interfering with nature' under those sorts of threats). The real hazards run from local (avalanches, tornadoes, even earthquakes) to regional (storms and droughts) to global (volcanic dust blocking sunlight, an eco-catastrophe that happens far more often than asteroid impacts). The analogy of global 'health' with individual human health is that a first step certainly is to 'eat right', avoid poisons and risky behavior, and exercise - but added to this must be preventative measures ('vaccinations'), protective measures (warm clothing, sunscreen, etc.), assistance mechanisms (eyeglasses, pacemakers), surgical intervention both for chronic conditions and for trauma - and each of these everyday practices has a parallel process for the whole Earth. Oberg bypasses the interminable debates over what really IS happening to the planet, and whose fault it is, to show what is it we can and must DO about it in the next few decades and beyond.