What is Geo-Engineering and Chem Trails?

Geo- means earth. This can mean dirt, our planet, or planet systems. Engineering is what, primarily, engineers and scientists do to attempt to make things better, using science, for humanity. This includes civil, mining, dam, and petroleum engineering.

What are some of the largest geo-engineering projects? Perhaps the Panama Canal, the Boston Big Dig, the Hoover Dam and/or the shaving off mountain tops to extract coal. In fact, it is estimated we humans move a lot of earth each year. Some estimate 7 gigatons per year. These activities have long term environmental effects on our earth, water, and air.

But, what is the biggest on-going geo-engineering project man has been pursuing for years? I believe it is the one where we inject 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide, CO2, into the atmosphere every year. This ought to give you some idea of how much coal, oil, and gas we consume, from which CO2 is emitted.

Technically, this injection of CO2 is not geo-engineering.  Geo-engineering is something that is intended to be “good” for humanity.  More correctly, excessive CO2 is pollution, is an unintended consequence, an externality, or if allowed to continue, a “tragedy of the commons”. 

 Let us narrow the scope of this down. Today, given the climate crisis, geo-engineering refers to the plea of governments, world-wide, for scientists to devise, “temporary fixes”, to slow or halt global warming.  A couple years ago I watched a board of our best scientists from our National Academies respond to this request. They were irritated. Paraphrasing, they said, “Yeah, we can try but if you had listened to us years before and started the transition to clean energy we would not be in the dire straits we are in today”. Additionally, they said, any “geo-engineering” will most likely have side effects. Other consequences that they predicted were that these fixes would be temporary, and expensive.   To be effective, they reminded us, we need to move to clean energy.

 There are many geo-engineering ideas. These are broken down into two categories. First, is the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.  The second, is finding a way to reflect some of the sun’s light back to outer space.

 Under the category of reflecting sunlight out to space before it can heat anything, comes one of many controversial geo-engineering proposals. We know certain airborne particulates, called aerosols, reflect light back to space. Aerosol dispersal can be done via artillery, balloon, and/or spraying by aircraft.  If this is being done by aircraft, the visual sighting of this may be referred to as spotting “chem trails”, short for chemical trails.

 Is the US Government testing various aerosols? I have no idea.

Before you look up into the sky convincing yourself that white trails in the sky are chemicals, let me tell you two things. First, jet aircraft produce “contrails”. When a jet engine burns jet fuel you get heat energy, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. At altitude, the water vapor will turn to white ice crystals and these ice crystals trail the aircraft in easily seen visible lines*.  

The second point to remember is best described by a recent encounter I had. I met a person on the street and started a conversation about climate change.  Almost immediately she said, “Yeah, I hate those chem trails!

  I responded with, “Excuse me?”

 She said, “Don’t’ you ever look up at the sky?” She then pointed to the south.

 I looked to where she was pointing and said, “Yes mam, occasionally I have looked up. I was a pilot. That is a cloud.” **

 Like I said previously, I do not know what projects our government is planning to test.  All I know is that each day we do nothing to make the transition to clean safe energy, the more we assure ourselves that last ditch geo-engineering options will be required.  Given our climate lethargy, the only responsible emergency course of action for our government(s) is to test all geo-engineering proposals.  That way we will know which are somewhat safe, which are cost effective, and which, if any, will buy us some time.  

As scientists remind us, the sooner we start the transition, the less we have to geo-engineer. That is why I encourage people to engage with the Citizens Climate Lobby and/or the Conservative Climate Council.  

 To learn more about the many geo-engineering ideas, I have provided what I consider to be the only two reputable web-sites worth reviewing.  The first is our National Academies Press with free downloadable books:  https://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49540

And the second is a downloadable report from the Royal Academy printed in 2009: https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/policy/publications/2009/8693.pdf

* “Contrails” is the name of the book we had to memorize upon arrival at the Air Force Academy.

**A short study in clouds. Here is our FAA’s “Signposts in the Sky” cloud information:

 https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2000-6A%20Chap%207-9.pdf

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