What it is
Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction, investigates humanity's attempts to save nature using technology. From gene-edited coral to carbon capture facilities to proposals for dimming the sun with aerosols, she explores the paradox of using human intervention to fix problems caused by human intervention.
Why we picked this
Kolbert brings journalistic rigor to the most uncomfortable questions in environmental science. She does not offer easy answers. Instead, she shows why every proposed fix creates new complications and why the conversation about geoengineering and genetic intervention is essential even if the answers are messy.
Key takeaways
- CRISPR gene drives could theoretically save endangered species by eliminating invasive competitors, but the ecological consequences of releasing gene-modified organisms are unpredictable.
- Solar geoengineering (injecting aerosols into the stratosphere) could cool the planet within months but would turn skies white and must be maintained indefinitely once started.
- Kolbert's central paradox: the choice is no longer between interfering with nature and not interfering. We have already intervened so deeply that the only question is how to intervene more wisely.