Why would you do this before tackling the climate crisis?
Why work on climate change while poverty, cancer or illiteracy still exists?
By that logic, we should have never have had space exploration at all (and never should). I seriously doubt this would have improved our progress on the "bigger issues "
Or at least not in a worthwhile sense (+5c and up).
Ultimately what is purposed isn't even a solution to the problem. Small reductions here and there that in total only manage to delay the inevitable. The only solution is mass scale terraforming projects and genetic modification of existing species to increase resiliency. If the coral reefs are dying we need to build reefs that are more resilient. If polar bears are overheating we need to breed ones who are more temperature tolerant. If the fish of the sea do not breed quickly enough for us to consume them at the rate that we currently do, we need to increase yields.
https://skepticalscience.com/heading-into-new-little-ice-age...
https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-we-wont-be...
Talking about terraforming Earth is a common way of distracting from the real problem — and I say that as someone who loves the idea of exporting the solar system.
There’s no guarantee that they’re even in the catchment area of the ideal solution, however, so we should be continuing to look for better ideas in parallel with implementing the best ones we have at the moment— there’s always the possibility that a Norman Borlaug will come along with a better solution than the common wisdom.
Earth is huge, we have barely scratched the surface. There is a lot of space and resources underground. And we don't have to go anywhere, we are already here.
In any case, what really makes space exploration possible today, is military spending. Which means that for the alternatives to become viable, they need to have strategic military applications. Unfortunately.