- FOX NEWS - Lindsay Kornick - APRIL 18, 2023 -
Dr. Chukwumerije Okereke’s New York Times guest essay argued against climate activists like Bill Gates and George Soros writing, "My Continent Is Not Your Giant Climate Laboratory."
Geoengineering efforts have been promoted by the White House
Dr. Chukwumerije Okereke’s New York Times guest essay argued against climate activists like Bill Gates and George Soros writing, "My Continent Is Not Your Giant Climate Laboratory."
Okereke, who works as the director of the Center for Climate Change and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University in Nigeria, explained in the essay on Tuesday the concept of solar geoengineering, which is supposed to redirect climate damage from the sun’s rays.
Although the concept has been gaining traction in recent years, Okereke criticized efforts by Western countries to persuade Africa to get involved.
"As a climate expert, I consider these environmental manipulation techniques extremely risky. And as an African climate expert, I strongly object to the idea that Africa should be turned into a testing ground for their use. Even if solar geoengineering can help deflect heat and improve weather conditions on the ground — a prospect that is unproven on any relevant scale — it’s not a long-term solution to climate change. It sends a message to the world that we can carry on over-consuming and polluting because we will be able to engineer our way out of the problem," Okereke wrote.
Ideas such as reflecting sunlight away from the Earth by injecting aerosols are "highly speculative," Okereke insisted, and could cause more damage to an already poorer nation.
He wrote, "Africa is already suffering the effects of climate change, such as drought, floods and erratic weather. And while geoengineering advocates see these technologies as a solution to such problems, the technologies run the danger of upsetting local and regional weather patterns — intensifying drought or flooding, for example, or disrupting monsoon cycles. And the long-term impact on regional climate and seasons is still largely unknown. Millions, perhaps billions, of people’s livelihoods could be undermined."
Efforts to push these ideas, however, continued to be pushed by organizations funded by Bill Gates. In addition, George Soros has recently called for further investments into potentially altering the climate in the Arctic.