Gear up for GeoEngineering!? The Lunch and Learn
Disclaimer:
Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy!Topics Include: Climate, Sunlight Interference, Airborne Chemicals, Solutions for High Temperatures, Macrosystems, Economics, Geopolitics, Defense Techniques, Innovation
Geoengineering is one of my least favorite topics to talk about, and yet I do it all the time. Because I can’t ignore reality. What is going on with our skies?
Why Attend: I mean, duh!!! What is going on here. I am also really ‘off of the internet + news’ so I don’t know waht the mainstream media says about it. But I see the skies every day. They look weird. Some of our weather is weird, and the atmosphere industry brags that they know the future of weather in hundreds of scenarios for the next 1,000 years!? hahha. So, let’s hear what these guys do. What are we engineering geo-ly on Earth, here?
Overall Event Review: Venue (/5), Food (/5), Speaker Content (/5), Networking (/5), Likeliness to Return (/5)… (more below)
Photo Collage and Commentary:
Notes From the Event:
HEADING THERE:
Today is more clarification. A lunch and learn about geoengineering. It was a last-minute find so I’m just there and heading out. I really hardly even have time for it… but… I mean I GOTTA GO!!! Freaking GEOENGINEERING DISCUSSED IN THE FLESH - “respectful” (lol it’s in the title of this event the posted. That word.
So with that, I’m off to see what they say and if any of this makes more sense. Cause AFAICT (just made that up: As Far As I Can Tell - lol its so close to A-FACT. Should be A-FAICT! Book. It’s a Faict.
My A-FAICT is… this stuff in the sky isn’t helping. It’s blocking out our sun. Why did we just spend a decade investing in solar panels just to block them out 😂. I mean really. Can’t we: use less packaging, order less, stop so much international stuff, buy local, farm local - etc. I mean aren’t there a million things we could be doing to work on climate change before just BLOCKING OUT SUNLIGHT HERE??? Okay. So, that’s my thoughts going into this thing. Let’s see what the professionals say today. Okay? Yay!
I get on the bus and there’s a guy with a sign that says, “all of my outrage can’t fit on this sign.” Makes me feel like he should be doing more, then. Make two signs - one to say that and one to say what’s going on. Help people understand too. That’s the missing link, people see your outraged but they can’t relate - so then you just look unreasonably outraged.
Also, spending time to think it through and break it into pieces helps you digest the info and true issues better.
Also, it helps others understand more.
His sign will be one of a collective, so it will blend in, but it doesn’t help whatever cause he’s a part of . Just seems like a witty sign, if you ask me.
Put that passion into solving the problem too.
Also, I’m officially running late at this point. The clock strikes noon IRL. So, I hope that its not too akward for me to eat food - and arrive. It’ll still take me time to arriveeeeeeee. I’m just on the way now typing in the transit hahaha. 😁
Good news. The destination is Symphony station. I always comically celebrate this, cause it’s such a grand station but in the middle of downtown in sorta a repetive way. We could TOTALLY use more subway stations throughout the city - and this one is just like 2 blocks from another one. Hahah. It’s so unnecessary almost!!! But…. At least today I get to use it and then the place I’m going is only 2 minutes from there! It’s another time that Symphony makes sense. It’s so rare, but sometimes it makes sense hahaha. So celebrate it.
Another older man with a half assed sign. Literally, ,I tried to look at it but the front was too small and the back had duct tape on it. If they are on their was to something, their combined messaging isnt working thus far. (and then on my way out i saw a guy with a sign that said “save our democracy”, so at least that’s a bit more indication of their goals, but still vague.).
We were too busy eating avocado toast, right? How about you guys? Now its your turn. I just notice a few older white men with poorly made signs are all around transit.
ARRIVAL
Arriving, I had three reality checks:
This venue is amazing
Was ‘bring your own lunch’ (good news, I have so much food at home and I am heading right back after this)
It was not a laptop situation. Luckily I had my NonLaptop Notebook ready to go.
I took notes and LOVED this event. Too much hahaha.
Upon arriving I saw a friend who I’ve been doing a lot of great work with. We have another new project work on too.
But then everyone was split into small groups to have discussions. It was different than I expected.
DISCUSSIONS/INTRODUCTIONS:
Earth systems scientists.
People working in the carbon dioxide removal accelerator together. This is 6 weeks of self-study, reading 5 hours twice a week to learn all about hte ocean, plant, nature things.
Another works in design consulting to help climate tech and clean companies build their brand design. Their behavior design.
- helping to drive sustainable solutions.
Nonprofits which work in international countries
This is a coworking space focused on climate solutions as well.
LOL - no presentation, we are here to speculate.
One woman works with banks and credit unions in their green spending.
One girls says chemicals are in the sky to reflect sunlight and I don’t like that it’s turning the skies blue.
Right now there is too much heat in our climate, so we think about hot to reduce carbon dioxide and get it to escape.
We are way behind where we need to be and now turning the knob down won’t make a big difference.
Methods all revolve around the way thermal weather systems work, but we
We don’t understand the ocean systems well and things can happen we don’t anticipate.
A lot of things are hard to figure out.
If we can control things and not make it so hot, that’s the goal.
For a while, conversations like this were taboo. Maybe it’d be revealed that things were handled irresponsibly, admitting defeat.
People have worried if we suggest a magic science solution, pressure will come off of inventors.
Another girl heard a podcast saying that it’d take too much to pull off waht we need.
Like how for these planes to work, we need 100 planes in the sky at all times, but the chemicals fly away, so it doesn’t even make sense longterm, you need to do it consistently.
It’s an emergency to the point we’re past solving it as individuals and now we need to do big measures.
This reminds me of the hippie movement from the 70’s back when peopel were this worried 60 years ago and then the government crushed it. I think they were trying to literally put solar panels on the White House 60 years ago and then that gott crushed and big industry made things WAY worse. So I’m just mega skeptical nonstop of everything hahah.
They need to start trying these crazy things, remove carbon, maybe even remove the number of people on the earth.
Geeze - this sounds like people blaming budget cuts for more taxes!! It’s like, can’t we just be smarter with money??? When’s the last time we looked at the efficiency of our dollars. Idk - so crazy. Now we have to kill off people? While we’re still leaving the lights on and doing all the BS international trade to cut costs - but also no one can afford anything. Of course nothing is workign cause we’re not fixing the real issues.
I just said it seems like so many of our solutions are insane and it feels like we’re painting over a moldy wall over and over again instead of fixing anything. And this is our planet, everyone’s home.
One guy has studied the stratosphere a lot and he breaks into a smaller convo with some guys.
One girl says she doesnt’ like that the sky is no longer blue.
SAME.
I don’t think the industries nad true people in power really care. I think they are bad acting.
I talked about how they guy who is investing alongside BG said that they’re aiming for free energy and they can achieve it if they get cold air like Chicago -
So things are going crazy until someting cracks and then we get ‘free energy’ for those guys. It’s just like snow piercer. A movie I grew up loving but now it’s even more relatable as I see it happening.
Some people (even the educated ones) agreed.
I said how things may go wild and then burst conveniently for one side to get free energy.
Then they moved onto another topic. I wrote to myself that I’m done talking for a while. I just wanna listen. I’m getting too out of my lane, a bit - and I wanna learn.
Terraforming sounds scary, but what people are often talking about it reforming earth.
All of us in our group seem to be like minded, I notice. We all get along well hahah, just different places on the spectrum of climate!! Wild.
Geoengineering is (one guy’s definition) intentional adjustments based on (he misspoke “intentional”) unintentional climate change.
The guy most educated in this topic from our group (it seems) said that. Okay? Okay?? Mhmm.
Now the host has us change the topic and get feelings and emotions into play as we say what is working and what isn’t in geoengineering. What are everyone’s concerns?
I think a marketing group would be very smart to mic this group hahah. I don’t think it’s allowed in this state, but maybe we signed away our rights by attending this in the small wording haha. IDK. But there are a lot of pain points being discussed at this event and they could really capitalize on it. LOL.
The host says his definition.. but he forgot it, goes to look and see where it’s written down, but it’s not written down, so then he says, “Intervention in earth’s climate systems to mitigate the human impacted system” - but that doesn’t even cover it. He says.
One guys jokes, “Are contrails dropping onto our houses?” He says he’s not being serious but some people do take this seriously.
UH YEAH! ME hahahah. Me.
Sulfur dioxide is especially reflective and useful. It bounces red light into space. It’s kinda like sunglasses for the planet.
WTF except lately I’m boycotting all sunglasses and hats, anything removing the sunshine from your eyes. I do have sensitive eyes but I’ve learned so much lately about the healing powers of sunshine, even into your eyeballs!! So I’m like, welcome in!! I think we’re not told proper science about the sun, or at least I didn’t grow up with it. We’re taught chemical dependancy.
Sulfur dioxide does not last too long in the atmosphere, but it generates acid rain that would take a few years to get rid of. WOAH.
So far the shipping fuel, it is the way they’re using it.
Countries can test moderately if they want to distribute things above their territory.
They can test products above their land
Make me think they can do it at borders on a windy day - or people can pay countries to.
This is a bit scary cause it’s relatively low tech and easy to do. Relatively inexpensive too.
Most people could pull it off if they get desperate enough and it’s anyone’s guess what will happen as a result.
Average temperature should definitely go down in the future, compared to what we’re experiencing now.
Every chance we’ve given up some feedback loop and we won’t know we made a mistake until we’ve done it.
Sci fi writers love to talk about putting mirrors into space
We know we can dye the sea certain colors to increase its reflectivity. But not sure if its been done before
The one guy who is most well educated in this field is leading a lot of the convo btw.
If we put bath salt into the ocean we can ofset carbon. We may amp that up 250%.
omg.
Other categories in geoengineering, sure, bu tnone are as talkekd about as the skies. The sunlight correcting.
Volcanoes reduce carbon, so now we can talk about having them happen more vastly across the scale.
Are we talking about triggering volcanoes or what? To offset the heating of the planet??? That is an industry consideration right now? Along with ‘decreasing the population’ geeze louise. Where is the manager!?!?
A lot of things already happen in nature, so what if we turn up the intensity
whahhhhhhhh ahahah omg. REally? Geezeeeeee..
We don’t really know.
bhahahhhh - we dont know? But let’s try and see if setting off volcanoes fixes climate change!??? hahhaha . NUTS, right??? Right?
BUt i feel like i sound like someone laughing at the idea of the invention of the wheel back in the caveman days. YOu know? Like MAYBE its crazy enough it works…
There is an organization that wants to put mirrors in the sky. Scattering mirrors around the sky and areas of different regions to provide climate help. That area can have a better environment.
We can dial in on local temperature.
No trails have been done except a few city blockss.
bahhhh waht!?!??!? omg. “the world” has so much going on that pepole just aren’t area of. Geeze.
MIRRORS IN THE SKIES CASUALLY TESTED ON CITY BLOCKS.
You’re all over there feeling cold while on the phone and you dont now why but your sister a bus stop away on teh phone with you doesn’t believe you cause it’s sunny there. SURPRISED - its cuase they have mirrors over your block and they’re testing hahahahj. omg.
Climate is a nasty problem. Only good ways to solve it involve careful attention to everyone. Something like equity.
But our species has proven we can’t accomplish equity. We aren’t capable of it.
Two separate systems are going on here, as well:
Science + Tech
Philosophy, Ethics, and Power Dynamics
It’s like having a house party while your parents go out of town and fighting over blah blah blah, while one sibling is like “guys!! WHATEVER - the parents are in the driveway!! CLEAN UP NOW!”
Thats how it sounds like where we are at for climate. Who cares WHY… now what? lol! They’re back early.
There is no one plan, no one person in charge
Though - i think its all simply a fight over fission vs fusion. Which is which? Idk - but you don’t need to know for that sentence hahahha. The new one vs the old one. That’s it.
Boats go to the Arctic and freeze icebergs bit by bit.
The responsibilty lies on the CEOs
But the systems put their jobs at risk if they act with altruism.
See! RCEO is changing the world and setting the example.
Social Media Leadership: are they following it or driving it. Zuck? Its a challenge caused by the oligarchy.
This is from lobying and significant contributions of politicial persuasion.
Who is really in charge rightnow?
CEO’s host all the options. Do they choose evil? No - but if they don’t comply they get kicked out.
The system doesn’t let people shape humanity as a ceo.
Even slavery, the people who were pro and against, it all depended on slavery-dependent economies. The north wasn’t slavery-dependent, so they fought against it.
We look for data that supports our world view to make our choices.
The environmental movement is up to big organizations - especially big oil. They need to clean up for their pollution.
We impact the world with our actions.
SUMMARIES/GROUP CLOSE:
In the artic, tehy’re tryin gto find ways to save sea ice and research, like how we save animals, now we’re saving ice.
Science and social examples.
Burning fossil fuels is public transporation. That is geoengineering.
My group also shared about how there is a field of info above us and a lot of predictive weather technology. As easily as we can predict anddisaster, you can also plan it. So that is a fear.
I was surprised the smart guy frmo my group brought this up - this point I had shared, so even then, I felt inclined to elaborate.
I said that I hear these companies brag they have hte microchips now to predict weather into centuries ahead into different scenarios.
You have hte permission to test things in your country, so what if you do it at borders or pay other countries to.
I think our skies are a new warzone and a new way to think about things. Whether human caused IN THE MOMENT, or an effect of it all building up
There is no one person in charge and everyone is trying to solve this, but there are bad actors involved. So its a new way to look at things and we need to be aware.
Then I apologized a bit for rambling, and we all wrapped up.
But I basically said we all want the same thing, you know: for the next generations to last and have a great future - or our friends reproducing.
We all want to do this well but everyone is trying to do it their own way.
The host talks about the ozone layer and how it was solved because a design someone had made
A solution was made, in reality, and waiting.
(now this part is confusing when I reread what i wrote, but it says): What they designed as one of the most potent greenhouse gasses known to man.
Tech fixes came from companies making the problems themselves in the first place.
So think about that.
There will be conversations and people will always fight.
Scientists who pointed out the problems with the ozone were vilified at the time. Even at that time they knew the solutions, and the solutions were available. But it took a decade to convince the public. To get the industry to shift.
Many people would have preferred to have kept CFC’s around.
Sulfur dioxide as a solution
Potential for sulfur dioxide and menthane from the wetlands.
Okay this part was kinda cool and interesting.
A woman said she arrived late, so she apologized, but she wants to do a quick poll.
Everyone agreed that was fine.
She asked if many of us know about sodium dioxade, yes? But how about menthane (?) in the wetlands?
No one knew.
She was mindblown and laughed aloud. “Even this incredibly educated group doesn’t know.”
This is in all of the wetlands
They’re in competition, the two
They usually were aiming some sulfur dioxide emissions and releasing methane from wetlands.
Only one person is studying this, it’s not known anywhere.
LOL idk what she is talking about, but she’s sitting right next to me and I’m super into it. She’s like trying to share this niche info about wetlands being effected by sulfur dioxide and the implecations this would have if we overdo sulfur dioxide lollll. I love it!!! This is thetalk, people. This is the real talk.
You think you can understand it all? All of the implications of your actions? No. Pull in the the entire community. The entire scientific community.
Not to be a wet blanket, but we must know how things connect.
LOL she is awesome.
And I think knowledge graphs will help us with this in the future too.
In the 1900’s people thought we’d starve forever and then fertilizer was invented. Now its similar.
Tolerance alongside (idk)?
Vincent Gauci’s papers on wetlands (?)
Coal, volcanoes (LOL you guys stop bringing up volcanos hahah), clean air act, helping with emosisions
There is still plenty of coal burning.
SUMMARY:
Its very hard for me to summarize this, why I liked it so much but also have so many feelings.
The best way I can put it at the moment, is, I feel like its ‘next leveling’ this tough conversation. Its the fact its finally becoming untaboo. Some people are admitting to having messed up. And now they’re admitting they don’t know what will happen next.
But two + two = four and lots of people see what I see. All places on the spectrum of climate.
We all got along well and agreed on a lot.
And as much as I was most ‘not in the field’ and maybe even conspiracy/uneducted-ish leaning, some of my big concerns were brought up and taken seriously a few times.
It was good to see.
I think information and disucssions like this put out potential fires and miscommunication.
I just think this was a fantastic talk, I had no clue how disorganized and disconnected this whole industry is (is it? I think so)
My notes were not great cause I did SO much talking and thinking at this very short event, but it was very much worth it and I’d like to keep involving myself in these conversations in the future.
All in all, I’m so thrilled I went to this event. It put my hat on straighter about this topic.
Literally the solution is to go follow the money. Make a March Madness map and write down who invest into what and what its reactions are, then get everyone in a room - and hopefully some good moderators and people with values and vision as well, not just these sorta cornered CEO’s.
Microscale solutions only work if they macroscale is coordinate.
This is all a great discussion to have, that is my take. 100% it was great.
And on the way home there was a bus problem and they said it was a threat - this guy on the phone behind me’s phone was on speaker and he said, “if you’re in a life threatening issue please hang up” I joke and ask if we are. -my neighbor said no, we’re not. LOL she reminds me of one of my really easy going family members.
We talked a bit and she said I’m living out the life she dreams to live. Living by the transit, no car, enjoying the city :)
Overall Event Review Further Elaborations:
Venue (5/5): So fantastic - and easy to get to.
Food (0/5): I won’t even look up if this was paid - it must not have been. 100% must not have been. And that’s cool about it. But still, I’m giving them a zero cause they didn’t make it clear enough to bring your own lunch. Hahah. It shoudl have been half the banner. Though this rating is a bit of a joke. But SERIOUS!
Speaker Content (5/5): Great discussion and I was surprised that some of the points I made were repeated, like the takeaways others had. I was glad my ideas and some of my conclusions and theories were repeated and taken seriously. Makes me feel like less of a crazy person and more sane/surprisingly smart - to us all!
Networking (2.5/5): It’s like, I spoke to people - and even ran into someone I knew! But, also didnt REALLY connect with anyone too much. But it was still fun. But not a networking experience.
Likeliness to Return (5/5): T’was great and I’d like to return. These are conversations I like to be a part of. Listening and contributing.
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
