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Is Geoengineering A Good Idea?

June 30, 2026 · 39 min

Show notes

The planet is heating up, every plan to stop it has fallen short, and growing group of scientists has started to ask a stranger question: what if we grabbed the thermostat ourselves? Ben Bradford investigates geoengineering — the science of deliberately manipulating Earth’s climate — from space mirrors and ocean fertilizers to fleets of planes mimicking a volcano. Some of it sounds like cartoon villainy. Some of it might actually work. And that raises the thornier question: if humans can cool the planet on purpose, who decides whether we should?

Guests:

Kate Ricke, climate change scientist at UCSD

Alan Robock, atmospheric scientist at Rutgers

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