RE:WIRED 2021: Neal Stephenson on Carbon Capture and Geoengineering

So we need carbon capture on an enormous scale

in order to achieve that,

and I hope, well, we have to do that.

That's the big solution that we really need to implement,

and it truly is a solution in the sense

that it would get rid of the underlying problem,

and kind of undo the mistake that we made

by putting all that CO2 into the atmosphere

in the first place.

I think that between now

and when those carbon capture programs actually begin

to make a positive impact,

the period of time during which some really bad things

are gonna happen geopolitically

as the result of all that CO2 in the air.

I think we're gonna see mass fatality events

when the weather gets too hot and humid

to support human life in certain areas.

We're gonna see a large rise in sea level

that's going to create refugee problems

and resulting famine and war and strife.

And so these kinds of solar geoengineering schemes

are something that could be considered

as a sort of tourniquet.

It's like putting a tourniquet on a grievously wounded limb

in order to keep the patient alive longer

in the emergency room.

You don't wanna leave the tourniquet on,

but it may be necessary

to save a person's life in the meantime.