In keeping with this issue's theme of achieving net zero, our resident sci-fi author, Gareth L. Powell, takes a look at some of the wilder possibilities for tackling climate change. Terraforming-adapting a planet to make it habitable-has become a recuring theme in science fiction, and there have been countless stories of hardy pioneers setting out to engineer a breathable atmosphere and comfortable climate on Mars and other worlds. Now, however, it seems the first world we'll have to terraform is our own. But how do you set out to engineer an entire planet? The Earth is a complex system, which means re-balancing the climate won't be achieved via a single solution. Many different approaches will need to be applied, from the widespread construction of wind and solar farms and the development of clean fusion power to programmes of massive reforestation and dietary change.
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