What is geoengineering? According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control) it's about "options that would involve large-scale engineering of our environment in order to combat or counteract the effects of changes in atmospheric chemistry". For example, pumping vast quantities of sulphur into the atmosphere to cool the Earth down, or seeding the oceans with masses of iron in order to encourage plankton to take up more CO2. More examples and detail here.
There are many problems with this sort of thing (See the link above for a list) but my main objections are: a) Will we really know what we're doing? We have such a bad record on influencing Nature, how can we predict the ultimate outcome? We could end up make matters even worse; b) Most forms of geoengineering (including the ones I've mentioned) would undermine efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and encourage a business-as-usual attitude to using our planet as a toilet. They're not solutions, they just papering over the cracks.
At this point, you're probably thinking that geoengineering is just science fiction. However, it is seriously being looked at by governments, groups, and wealthy individuals right now. The U.S. has already carried out testing on the idea of dumping iron in the oceans, whilst the Russians are experimenting with spraying aerosols into the atmosphere to cause localised weather effects.
Nervous? You should be. Geoengineering is like a Pandora's Box: Once we open it, we may regret it for generations to come.
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