While carbon dioxide removal from the air is not a replacement for emissions reductions, it can supplement these efforts. Experts are continually researching the best ways to do this.
Plan to cut emissions quickly, use offsets sparingly and set broader goals for improving society.
One ‘mechanical tree’ is about 1,000 times faster at removing carbon dioxide from air than a natural tree. The first is to start operating in Arizona in 2022.
Illustration via Arizona State University
Frank Jotzo, Australian National University and Mark Howden, Australian National University
The world is moving away fossil fuels, and there’s nothing Australia can do about it. Racing to dig up and sell whatever fossil fuels we can before the timer stops is not a future-proof strategy.
Prominent academics, including a former IPCC chair, round on governments worldwide for using the concept of net zero emissions to ‘greenwash’ their lack of commitment to solving global warming.
Manufacturing minerals is an expanding field of study. Making more of them could help alleviate various pressures faced by our growing population. But how are they made, and where can they be used?
If only it were that easy.
Olivier Le Moal/Shutterstock
Wil Burns, American University School of International Service and Greg H. Rau, University of California, Santa Cruz
Adding industrial chemicals and natural alkaline minerals could slow climate change, but like other geoengineering proposals, it comes with many complex technical and legal challenges.
Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Corinne Le Quéré, University of East Anglia; Glen Peters, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo; Robbie Andrew, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo, and Rob Jackson, Stanford University
For the second year in a row global greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels have risen, putting 2018 on course to set a new record, according to an annual audit from the Global Carbon Project.
A disaster fantasy raises questions about tinkering with Earth’s climate. With real-life scientists exploring geoengineering, what conversations should we be having now around these technologies?
Global warming and carbon emissions, left unchecked, could cause rising sea levels and displace almost 200 million people. But we can still prevent the worst case scenario if we act now.
Has carbon capture and storage been tarnished by its association with the coal industry?
Peabody Energy/Wikimedia Commons
Carbon capture and storage gets a bad rap from its associations with ‘clean coal’. But the technology could prove vital in cutting emissions from other industries like steel, cement and chemicals.
The shipping industry must clean up its act.
Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters
Bill Hare, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Niklas Höhne, Wageningen University
Phasing out greenhouse gas emissions entirely by mid-century is possible, and promising trends are emerging. But the next five to ten years will be the real test of whether we can make that happen.