Page 235 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

in ignorance of its consequences. We are in weather control now whether we
know it or not” (4).
He was clearly interested in both inadvertent climatic effects—such as might
be created by industrial emissions, rocket exhaust gases, or space experiments
gone awry—and purposeful interventions, whether peaceful or done with
hostile intent. Echoing von Neumann’s 1955 warning about technology, Wex-
ler continued: “Even in this day of global experiments, such as the world-wide
Argus electron seeding of the Earth’s magnetic field at 300 miles height, man
and machinery orbiting the Earth at 100 miles seventeen times in one day, and
100 megaton bombs—are we any closer to some idea of the approaches which
could lead to an eventual ‘solution’ [to the problem of climate control]?” (3). He
noted “a growing anxiety” in the public pronouncements that “Man, in apply-
ing his growing energies and facilities against the power of the winds and storms,
may do so with more enthusiasm than knowledge and so cause more harm
than good.” 72
Wexler was well aware that any intervention in the Earth’s heat budget would
change the atmospheric circulation patterns, the storm tracks, and the weather
itself, so, as he pointed out, weather and climate control are not two different
things. After presenting some twenty technical slides on the atmosphere’s radia-
tive heat budget and discussing means of manipulating it, Wexler concluded with
a grand summary of highly speculative techniques to heat, cool, or otherwise
restructure the atmosphere:

o
o
(a) increase global temperature by 1.7 C [3 F] by injecting a cloud of ice crystals
into the polar atmosphere by detonating 10 H-bombs on the Arctic sea ice;
o
o
(b) lower global temperature by 1.2 C [2.2 F] by launching a ring of dust par-
ticles into equatorial orbit to shade the Earth;
(c) warm the lower atmosphere and cool the stratosphere by injecting ice, water,
or other substances into space; and
(d) destroy all stratospheric ozone, raise the tropopause, and cool the strato-
o
o
sphere by up to 80 C [144 F] by an injection of a catalytic de-ozonizer such as
chlorine or bromine. 73

Cutting a Hole in the ozone layer

one of the most stunning aspects of Wexler’s lectures was his awareness that
catalytic reactions of chlorine and bromine could severely damage the ozone
layer. Wexler was concerned that inadvertent damage to ozone might occur if

218 | fearS, fantaSieS, and PoSSibilitieS of Control