Geoengineering the climate isn’t that risky – just ask ChatGPT

Scientists most fear that some country's attempts to manipulate its own environment will lead to drastic, unintended consequences. But it will still happen, writes David Callaway

Chemically manipulating our environment, in its spookiest form, is all about AI (Getty Images)

George Soros ripped open a new fault in the global climate battleground last month when he told world leaders at the Munich Security Conference they should consider spraying water into the Arctic clouds to deflect sunlight and preserve the melting ice.

A magnet for conservative conspiracy theories for decades, the billionaire philanthropist had paid scant attention to global warming to date. But his leap into the contentious battle over geo-engineering the environment evoked – for some – images of a Lex Luther plot to destroy the world.

Reaction in the scientific community was swift and fierce, with respected climatologists, phyisists and atmospheric scientists drawing lines on whether to do more research into man-made manipulation of the environment, or prohibit more study entirely. The debate is reminiscent of the one we’ve had for decades about artificial intelligence, with doomsayers predicting a legion of robots enslaving the human race. Still, that hasn’t stopped it.