Yet another Neal Stephenson page-turner. Climate geoengineering sci-fi plot meets the reality of humans pulling the levers and conducting the experiments, and ultimately, deciding the winners and losers. NS does a nice job blending the narrative allowing readers to both think about the scientific and technical intricacies associated with intentional climate system alteration (including Monsoon failures), AI/deepfakes, and risk models, while also considering the enablers and constraints associated with economics, geology, geography and geopolitics that are all integral parts of the climate system. There is enough of the technical to keep climate, energy and technology geeks interested, still weaving together a story of characters whom many of us can probably associate with people that we know. While I do read quite a bit of the technical literature pertaining to geoengineering, Termination Shock underscores the need to balance science and engineering objectives, attributes that are typically recorded with an instrument and can usually be digitized, with the realities of the ‘softer’ side of the equation: namely personalities, egos, interpersonal conflicts, and agendas. Also, (unless I missed it) I do like how the term ‘Termination Shock’, referring to the modeled expectations of potential ‘climate whiplash’ when intentional solar radiation modification activities cease, does not appear until the final pages.
Termination Shock also resonates with a talking point that I usually open or close many of my own talks with: The climate problem is fundamentally a people problem.