by Jeff Goodell
First published 2010
A team of researchers races against climate catastrophe by developing radical planetary cooling technologies. They construct enormous devices that extract carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. They design systems that make clouds more reflective to bounce sunlight back into space. They even create artificial volcanic eruptions that release temperature-lowering particles into the sky. Author Jeff Goodell initially doubted these extreme interventions. Weather forecasts fail regularly, so how can anyone control regional temperatures? What happens when a rich individual launches particles into the stratosphere without permission? Who takes responsibility when these experiments cause disasters? Could nations weaponize climate control systems against their enemies? Despite these dangers, Goodell concludes that geoengineering might represent humanity's final option for environmental survival. The book examines both the scientific ambition and technical risks of attempting to operate the planet's thermostat.
Genres: science, environment, non-fiction, technology, 21st-century, climate-change
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: race-against-time
262 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt