> However, the primary problem I see with this approach is that we are simply not politically ready as a species to attempt a global-scale engineering project like that.

What's the point of bringing this up? Are you saying that their research is futile and that they shouldn't bother? That we should be funding something else?

There are separate groups of people working on the social aspects. Let MIT and other research institutions deal with coming up with solutions, and let politicians and activists deal with getting the world ready.

From everything I've seen, it'll take a global-scale engineering project of some sort to solve this problem. Might as well have the group of solutions ready for when/if the world is ready.