There comes a point where humanity’s so-called “solutions” to climate change start to sound like a script from a dark comedy, one where the villains are not in secret lairs but sitting on boards, in parliaments, and in think tanks with billion-dollar endowments.
The latest from New Scientist feels like exactly that: scientists now expect humanity will attempt to dim the sun by 2100, literally blocking sunlight to cool the planet. What was once dismissed as fringe science fiction has now entered mainstream discussion. A last-ditch, planetary gamble because we failed, utterly and spectacularly, to cut emissions.
It’s hard not to see this as a form of surrender. Instead of reducing pollution, we’re trying to tweak the thermostat of the entire Earth. It’s desperate, risky, and potentially catastrophic and yet it’s being normalised by billionaires, tech firms, and governments who can’t bear to touch the fossil fuel status quo.
If this were a film, it would be a tragic yet laughable turn, the master villain moment where Dr Evil announces, “We’ll block out the sun to fix global warming!” . Except this time, the villains are real, and the world is nodding along.
So while leaders plan to dim sunlight, Australia keeps burning, the oceans keep heating, and ecosystems keep collapsing. The irony is almost unbearable. And that’s why Fix My Planet exists: because the fight for sanity, for genuine, grounded action, is the only thing keeping the absurd from becoming normal.
October Heat Records: Australia on the Boil
October has barely begun, and Sydney and Birdsville are already breaking temperature records. Forecasts show relentless heat across much of the country, the kind that turns bushland into tinder and drains reservoirs before summer even starts.
Scientists have warned that this “spring heatwave” is a preview of what’s to come: more extreme temperatures, higher fire danger, and less recovery time between events. The Bureau of Meteorology calls it “unusual”; anyone paying attention knows it’s the new normal.
Fires Without Borders: The Planet Ignites
From the Mediterranean to South America and the Pacific, fires are burning bigger, hotter, and earlier. Research shows the climate crisis is directly fuelling extreme fires across the globe altering wind systems, drying landscapes, and overwhelming firefighters’ capacity to respond.
This is what decades of delay look like. We’re no longer fighting to prevent change we’re fighting to survive it.
Ocean of Electricity: A Flicker of Innovation
Amid the gloom, there’s one bright (and salty) spot. CSIRO’s “Ocean of Electricity” project is exploring ways to harvest sustainable energy from ocean currents and waves. Australia’s coasts could, in theory, power entire regions if properly harnessed.
It’s a reminder that solutions exist, they just need the same political will and corporate enthusiasm that the fossil industry has enjoyed for a century.
Why This Matters
If “blocking out the sun” sounds insane, that’s because it is. It’s the logical endpoint of a civilisation that refuses to change course a technical patch for a moral failure.
Meanwhile, ordinary people are left to cope with heat, fire, floods, and fear. Governments talk adaptation while cutting prevention. Corporations count offsets while burning futures.
That’s why Fix My Planet matters more than ever. We can’t dim the sun, but we can shine light on what’s broken. We can take action in our daily choices, our offsets, our voices, and our pressure. Small steps against systemic madness because someone has to keep the story sane.