Book Review: Hacking Planet Earth by Thomas M. Kostigen

Over the years, we all have read several articles on geoengineering proposals to "save the planet". Simultaneously those ideas appear as audacious, phenomenally effective approaches to addressing massive problems, and as terrifying prospects that could go totally and irrevocably wrong, messing up our only home. Because Hacking Planet Earth: Technologies That Can Counteract Climate Change and Create a Better Future is a book discussing exactly these types of solutions, I picked it up during a recent visit to Barnes & Noble. After finishing it, I came away with mixed feelings—not so much about the technology itself, but about the book. 

As we all know, human activities have caused the planet to warm up year after year. The solutions proposed in decades past focused on reducing carbon emissions, which often meant slowing down economic activity and transitioning to renewable energy. However, these recommendations haven't had much of an impact. With a growing global population and more countries transitioning from abject poverty to the middle-income bracket, energy consumption has only increased in recent years, accelerating global warming. Since halting this trend is neither easy nor practical, scientists and governments have been looking at alternative options to cool the Earth more efficiently, which is exactly what geoengineering is all about. The book explores various proposals, such as reflecting sunlight back into space or blocking sunbeams from reaching the Earth. Given that we are failing phenomenally to meet our carbon reduction goals—and with major contributors like the US not pulling their weight but pulling out of international agreements like the Paris Accord—these "hacking" ideas are both timely and necessary, provided they don't mess things up further.

Written by Kostigen, a professional author experienced in this genre, the book is an easy read featuring simple, accessible prose. He doesn't get into anything deeply technical, as this is aimed at a popular audience. Although the author doesn't explicitly claim to have done so, it appears like he traveled the world and interviewed the people featured in the book to provide a strong narrative, which is admirable.

The first section, titled "Humans v. Sky & Space," is probably the best. It explores efforts to limit global warming by creating artificial lightning, deploying a massive "space parasol" covering a region the size of the United States, and installing large reflectors in the desert to reduce the impact of sun heating up the planet. It is a balanced discussion, analyzing both the pros and potential cons of each grand idea. However, the final chapter of this section feels less interesting, focusing merely on painting roofs and parking lots white to improve reflectivity and reduce heat absorption. While this should certainly be part of the overall solution, it is neither a stunning new concept nor a true "planet-hacking" solution. Just a passing mention in a paragraph or two would have been adequate.

Part two, "Humans v. Land & Oceans," discusses brightening clouds by spraying a fine mist of seawater from solar-powered, boat-like structures moving through the ocean. This is a neat concept that doesn't cost an astronomical amount or rely on chemicals—just seawater, mimicking a process that already occurs naturally. The subsequent chapter on ocean fertilization is also fascinating, exploring how we might artificially revive coral reefs and eliminate oxygen-depleted dead zones. But subsequent chapters in this section, discussing Dutch dikes, building living spaces underground (creating "earthscrapers" instead of skyscrapers), and trying to stop glaciers from melting, all feel like old, well-known ideas with limited impact. They simply don't fit the definition of "earth hacking."

By the time the book reaches the final two sections, it feels as though the author ran out of planet-hacking concepts and began scraping the bottom of the ideas barrel. There is a chapter on transitioning from livestock farming to lab-grown meat, and another on recycling sewage water into drinking water (technologies already utilized in places like California and Israel). Earth hacking? Hardly.

The final section covers self-driving cars, discussing how they will reduce accidents and reshape urban life by eliminating the need for parking lots and garages. As an autonomous vehicle enthusiast, I appreciate the technology, but I can't view it as a novel earth-hacking concept. The last chapter highlights Masdar City, a UAE-funded development project, designed from the ground up to be a zero-carbon city supporting 1,500 businesses and 50,000 residents. Launched in 2005 with great intentions and interesting ideas, it was originally slated for completion by 2020. As is typical with such massive projects, delays hit, the goal shifted from "zero carbon" to "low carbon," and the book claims it would be completed by 2025. However, a quick look online (e.g. see this link) reveals that the new completion date has slipped to 2030, the scope has been further reduced, not many people & businesses are moving in, and the UAE organization behind it has shifted its primary focus to solar power, rendering the city a secondary project. It is a disappointing outcome, though the attempt remains laudable. Ultimately, because these are small, meaningful adjustments that all modern city plans should include, it again fails to feel like true earth hacking.

Books of this nature benefit immensely from illustrations to make complex concepts easier to grasp. This book does include a few hand-drawn, black-and-white pencil sketches, but the quality is quite poor, both literally and figuratively. Literally, because the annotations are written in handwriting that is barely legible; figuratively, because the drawings fail to clarify anything useful. Some illustrations are entirely pointless, such as a sketch of a self-driving car that looks just like a standard vehicle. Others are either too simple to add value or leave the reader confused about what they are even looking at. This was particularly jarring to me, as I have just spent the last year creating about 80 images for my own upcoming book. I sincerely hope my readers will find the illustrations genuinely valuable.

Despite these flaws, I would still recommend reading it. It is a quick, accessible read, and it is clear that the world is not moving fast enough to reduce carbon emissions. This reality may eventually force us to adopt these geoengineering ideas if we want to survive.

In the final pages, the author makes an emotional plea about the need to "save the planet" in distress. This line of thinking always amuses and puzzles me; the Earth will be perfectly fine, just as it was before humans arrived, and it will endure long after we are gone. We don't even need to anthropomorphize it to say it is caring for us or struggling to survive. TBH, earth doesn't care! What we are actually worried about is the planet's conditions becoming incompatible with, or at least highly uncomfortable for, human life. We aren't saving the Earth; we are trying to save ourselves. Since we show no signs of abandoning our carbon-spewing, global-warming lifestyles, it is high time we look into alternative "earth-hacking" options—while exercising strict due diligence to ensure we don't screw things up even further in pursuit of a magic bullet.