Gita Mishra is a determined geoengineer at the end of her rope in Extrapolations episode 4, one who finally takes it upon herself to contend with the horrible climate condition of the Earth with a solution that’s uncertain and immediate.
Jonathan Chopin is an ex-Alpha Industries employee and a scientist on whose advice the US President prohibited the use of geoengineering solutions to take on climate change.
While he celebrates this decision, his son Rowan doesn’t. This creates a rift between the two which unravels a dangerous chapter later on, as Rowan goes on to participate in a drastic effort at contending with the dystopian climate conditions, using geoengineering solutions with his stepmother, Gita Mishra, at the helm.
The Rowan
Gita is the CEO of New Sky Initiatives, and the company’s latest technological masterpiece stands to revolutionize aviation, as she reveals the world’s first unmanned and fully carbon-neutral cargo airplane which is powered solely by solar energy.
Named after her stepson, Rowan Chopin, she addresses the investors and interested parties at the launch event that she will be piloting the first flight of The Rowan herself, claiming it’s only right that she serves as the guinea pig for a project she wants others to have so much trust in.
The next day, she takes off in one of the total ten planes that take off, while Rowan lends her support from the control room and later on from different places as he evades the SEAL agents. Meanwhile, Jonathan Chopin tries to negotiate and debate Gita out of following her plans to their conclusion.
The science project
Back when he was in the fifth grade, Rowan’s science project was based on the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. The gas cloud from the eruption was said to have cooled the Earth’s surface in the Northern Hemisphere, leading scientists, and geoengineers like Gita and then Jonathan, to believe that this might be close to what can be the solution to rapid climate change.
Jonathan would go on to have dissenting opinions on said solutions and on his advice, President Burdick would sign the Climate Intervention Treaty, prohibiting geoengineering solutions to be made by companies as a climate change solution.
Gita’s plan is to essentially replicate the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption but on a global scale. With her on the fleet of airplanes, there is two million ton worth of calcium carbonate, which she intends to release into the atmosphere in order to lower the global temperature.
She knows the gamble she takes with this plan but in the face of such abject gambling with human lives and Earth’s climate, she’d rather play her hand with an uncertain move than sit back and see her own people contend with misery and suffering.
Sacrifice & an uncertain sky
Gita’s plan entails contingencies that can pose a number of global issues and calamities like floods, crop failures, and contamination just to name a few. And while Jonathan and the White House try to negotiate with Gita, who they already consider a geological terrorist, her plane is shot down by an unnamed source.
However, that’s not the end of her plan, as her stepson Rowan steps in and finishes his stepmother’s job, releasing into the atmosphere, with the help of Alpha Industries’ delivery drones, 2 million tons of calcium carbonate all over the globe.
As the episode ends, Gita has sacrificed herself for a drastic step to tackle climate change as her plan rolls into motion, unleashing clouds of uncertainty across the world, as Jonathan and the rest of the population look up at a sky full of ambiguities.
Also Read: Extrapolations season 1 episode 4 recap & review: Face of God