About 'Cooling Ecosystems'
Yes, we must curb greenhouse gas emissions, but nature also has other ways of cooling the planet. Rob de Laet reminds of an overlooked one: evapotranspiration of water and aerosols into the air.
The climate crisis is often painted in broad, singular strokes: greenhouse gas is the enemy, and reducing carbon emissions can be our only salvation. But what if there is a massive, gaping hole in our climate models? What if the Earth has its own built-in air conditioning system that we have systematically dismantled, and what if restoring it could cool the planet in a fraction of the time we thought possible?
These are the provocative questions at the heart of a recent Project Save the World video conversation hosted by Metta Spencer and Robert Tulip featuring with climate advocate Rob de Laet. Their discussion, spanning continents from Canada to Brazil to Australia, delved into the intricate, often misunderstood relationship between trees, water, and planetary temperature. It is a tale of two complementary visions for saving the planet: harnessing the biological power of tropical forests and engineering the reflectivity of our clouds.
The Missing Piece of the Climate Puzzle
Rob de Laet, speaking from Brazil, brings a lifetime of planetary observation to the table. Having read Limits to Growth at the age of 16, he spent decades traveling the globe, acutely aware of the looming polycrisis. After selling his adventure travel company in 2007, he dedicated himself to climate solutions, eventually co-authoring the book Cooling the Climate. His bold claim? We can technically cool the planet within 20 years.
