The Most Dangerous Technology in the World? - Wim Carton | #66

Geoengineering might sound nice in theory, but the consequences could be disastrous. Today's guest, Wim Carton, co-wrote The Long Heat with Andreas Malm, which helps paint the full picture.

Grab your copy of The Long Heat here!

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BIO: Wim Carton is Associate Professor of Sustainability Science at Lund University, Sweden. He’s the author of over 20 academic articles and book chapters on climate politics. His work has appeared in top journals such as Nature Climate Change, WIRES Climate Change and Antipode. He co-wrote both Overshoot: How the World Surrendered to Climate Breakdown and The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late with Andreas Malm.

It is a loud, chaotic time. There are so many worrying developments that demand our immediate attention, action, and solidarity. I know that we all have limits to how much depressing information we can withstand. The not-so-awesome followup here is that there are things unfolding in the background that are also worthy of your attention, but they get virtually zero airplay because they’re not immediate disasters. If you’ve followed my channel for a while, you’re already familiar with a bunch of these, so I won’t belabor this point.

One of the most critical ones you need to be aware of is solar geoengineering, an umbrella term for speculative technologies designed to temporarily cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight back into space, typically through dispersing large quantities of sulfates in the atmosphere. At first blush, this may not sound like the worst idea. We know from researching the aftermath of volcanic eruptions that the cooling effect is real, not hypothetical, and especially given the unprecedented heat of the past three years, finding a seemingly straightforward way to cool the planet down might seem like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, it’s too good to be true, which is what today’s guest Wim Carton—along with his co-author Andreas Malm—go to great lengths to demonstrate in their absolute must-read book, The Long Heat. This book is something of a sequel to their likewise superb Overshoot (and for an invitation into that book, be sure to check out my earlier episode with the two of them).

Grab your copy of Overshoot here!

Having learned from folks like Wim, I think this issue is one of the single most important topics we need to be discussing right now, before it spirals out of control. Because make no mistake: even though we aren’t yet witnessing much geoengineering—and therefore not seeing its knock-on effects—interest is increasing. Israeli-US startup Stardust Solutions announced it had raised $60 million last year, claiming they would begin with experiments in April 2026. And of course, as the impacts of climate change and extreme weather become more pronounced—and we emit ever more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere—desperate times might cause many to turn to desperate measures.

After reading The Long Heat, I could spend all day explaining all the ways this go wrong, but instead, I’m going to let you hear it from the author himself. Please enjoy this vital conversation with Wim Carton.

CREDITS: This podcast is produced & edited by Adam Labrie & me, Jesse Damiani. Adam Labrie also edited the video version, which is available on YouTube.

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