Change presents an imminent and growing threat to the safety of our planet, necessitating drastic measures from those willing to step outside of the norm. Unsurprisingly, such an approach has met with widespread criticism and condemnation from experts in the scientific community.

Make Sunsets, a private company, recently attempted to implement solar geoengineering without first consulting with scientists or seeking approval from the public, a move which was widely decried by those in the field. Janos Pasztor, executive director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative for example, wrote in an email that “the current state of science is not good enough…to either reject or accept (solar geoengineering), let alone implement it”, a sentiment shared by Shuchi Talati, a scholar at American University who is forming a nonprofit focused on governance and justice in solar geoengineering.

Talati further argued that Make Sunset’s attempt could set back the scientific field as a whole, reducing funding, dampening government support for trusted research, and accelerating calls for restrictions on its study.

Make Sunsets themselves are undeterred. They are offering $10 “cooling credits” for anyone willing to fund their effort through purchasing one gram of carbon released into the stratosphere. Matthew Iseman of Make Sunsets warned however that they intend to act responsibly: asserting “what I want to do is create as much cooling as quickly as I responsibly can…over the rest of my life”.

Such promises may be difficult to take seriously given the potential risks posed by solar engineering projects; studies have indicated that deploying these technologies could threaten wildlife around the world and potentially lead to mass starvation due to disruptions of monsoons in Asia, increased droughts in Africa endangering food and water sources for two billion people worldwide.

It remains unclear how governments will respond to this latest attempt at solar engineering, but one thing is certain…playing God rarely ends well for anyone involved. The consequences of failing to sustain this technology could be catastrophic. Species around the world may be unable to cope with changing conditions which would create wide-scale extinctions while billions more humans suffer due to lack access food or water sources resulting from climate changes caused by such radical attempts at manipulation.

It goes without saying then that governments should act swiftly and decisively now before further damage can be done. Not only should Make Sunset’s activities be outlawed, but all other similar projects should undergo closer scrutiny and proper oversight if we are ever going hope to turn back these dangerous tides before they become irreversible.