I commend Srivathsan Karanai Margan for the excellent “Hacking the Planet” series of articles on climate change. As pointed out in Part 3 of the series, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the approach we are taking (termed “CDR,” or carbon dioxide removal) is not having the desired result. The developed nations have reduced their CO2 emissions since 1990, and future temperature increases will be the result of increased emissions from developing nations—especially China and India. Nevertheless, we must question the fairness of insisting that developing nations not make use of fossil fuels (which, as an aside, may become less expensive for developing nations as demand in the developed world decreases). After all, the residents of developing nations want air conditioning, too.
This makes research on what “Hacking the Planet” calls “SRM”—solar radiation management—all the more critical.
Don Solow, Madison, N.J.
