Geoengineering: Global Warming and Wood Essay

Submitted By danijyone
Words: 1534
Pages: 7

Should Re-Engineering the Earth be Done? How would you react if one morning at the crack of dawn you woke up to a dramatic red sky, a sky similar to that in Blade Runner? In “Re-Engineering the Earth,” Graeme Wood tells us about this very possible reality and how it could potentially help make the world a better place, or cause a catastrophic turn in events. Modifying the way we see the world today and aggressively transforming the planet as humans have for over the past 200 years. By citing credible facts of well-known geo-engineers, Graeme Wood goes more into depth about how this is a very real possibility that could happen as soon as tomorrow. Graeme Wood, a Harvard University graduate and a contributing editor to The Atlantic, seeks to inform his audience about the ozone layer and its massive depletion due to natural and man-made causes, and various solutions to this problem that could become hazardous. He also seeks to persuade his audience to live a greener life before we have to come to such conclusions. Understanding where Wood’s is coming from his readers would first have to know about him and the audience he is speaking to. This essay appeared in The Atlantic. The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in 1857; needless to say it has a very long history and has gone through numerous changes in its time. It covers topics on politics, business, entertainment, technology, health, international affairs, and more. The Atlantic consists of many readers, about 400,000 who are subscribers, those who are curious, people who want to keep up on current events and issues, intellectual individuals, and those of us who base our knowledge on hard facts. Wood’s provides facts based off of the research and opinions of other knowledgeable geo-engineers and utilizes them to prove that today’s society needs to make a change before we speak of solutions that could cause an unexplainable and unpredictable turn in events. Wood’s introduces his article with an urgent message to readers. He and others need to take into consideration radical – and possibly extremely dangerous – schemes for re-engineering the climate by brute force. The ideas are not just plausible, but also cheap. He then goes on to explain that a rich and committed environmentalist could act on them tomorrow because that is just how cheap it is, so cheap that a rich man could do it without the need of government assistance. There are currently 38 people in the world with $10 billion or more in private assets, and theoretically speaking, one of these people could reverse climate change all alone. Wood’s opening not only draws the reader in from just his first few statements, but also pulls them in closer by conveying to his readers a more intense message that hits a little closer to home. He makes this not only a personal issue now to his readers, but giving them a bit of a reality check by showing them exactly how life could be. Wood’s goes back and forth in his article, much like an argument, to show his pros and cons and his intent on what we could do now versus what we should do then. After stating the problem Wood’s then goes on to present facts to show the horrors that could come with different techniques in solving global warming. He accumulates information from different sources, many of which are geo-engineers, but he also cites some of the work from atmospheric scientists, regular engineers, professors, experts, physicists, an oceanographer, environmental-law experts, and Noble-Prize winners on the subject. By including statistics from varied and credible sources, Wood’s provides strong support for his claim that the world needs to make a change to slow down the process of global warming before we end up with dangerous side effects from either global warming or the technology used to help prevent it. This is particularly appealing to logos and his intended audience, too. An informed audience is likely to respond positively to his article as they seek