Greenhouse gas removal
Greenhouse gas removal refers to the process of eliminating harmful gases, primarily carbon dioxide and methane, from the Earth's atmosphere, which contribute to global warming and climate change. This critical environmental goal involves two main strategies: reducing future emissions and actively cleaning existing greenhouse gases from the air. Human reliance on fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, has significantly increased greenhouse gas levels, leading to serious ecological consequences, including rising temperatures and extreme weather events.
To address this issue, nations and organizations worldwide are exploring various methods of greenhouse gas removal. One approach is Direct Air Capture and Carbon Storage (DACCS), where machines filter air to extract carbon dioxide. Additionally, natural solutions like reforestation and ocean health promotion play vital roles, as trees and ocean plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, merely removing gases is not enough; effective long-term storage solutions are necessary to prevent their re-entry into the atmosphere. Techniques may include integrating captured gases into soil, using biochar, or incorporating them into building materials, all aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change. As the urgency for action increases, cooperation among individuals, businesses, and governments remains essential to achieving these ambitious goals.
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Greenhouse gas removal
Greenhouse gas removal is an important goal of modern environmental science. “Greenhouse gas” refers to carbon dioxide and other gases produced largely by human activity that contribute to global warming and other major threats to the planet. Removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is a two-step process. First, people must find ways to avoid emitting future greenhouse gases. Second, people must clean existing gases from the air and find ways to safely store the removed material.
Background
Humans need a tremendous amount of energy to power their increasingly complex world. The quest for and use of this energy, however, is having a deleterious effect on the environment. By-products of many popular energy sources can harm nature in various ways, from directly polluting land, air, and water to changing the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Many of these environmental damages have compiled over generations and now pose a serious threat to the world’s climate and overall stability.
Many of the greatest threats to the environment stem from human reliance upon fossil fuels as the primary source of energy. Fossil fuels are materials from the ground that are burned to produce power. The most well-known fossil fuels of the modern era are oil, coal, and natural gas.
Fossil fuels have powered human progress since the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s and remain the mainstay of energy use in the twenty-first century. Many people use fossil fuels directly, or convert them to other types of fuel. Much of the world’s electricity, for example, is derived from machines powered by fossil fuels.
Only in relatively recent times, however, have people begun to realize the significant downsides of using fossil fuel. Not only is this fuel limited and non-renewable, but it also creates many forms of pollution. One of the most dangerous forms of pollution caused by fossil-fuel use is known as greenhouse gas. An excessive amount of this material has entered Earth’s atmosphere and is threatening to cause significant problems for the planet and its living things.
Overview
Using fossil fuels causes greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, to form and enter the planet’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is a layer of gases that surrounds the planet. Under normal circumstances, the atmosphere allows sunlight to pass through it, warm the surface of Earth, and then bounce back into space. However, excessive greenhouse gas in the atmosphere traps the sun’s heat and makes Earth warmer than it otherwise would be. The effect of this problem is referred to as global warming.
Global warming may cause a wide array of serious problems for Earth, including extended and damaging heat waves, the melting of polar ice, and dangerously high sea levels. These climatic changes could potentially cause cataclysmic problems for humans and other living things. Many countries and organizations have vowed to combat global warming and its causes. In 2015, an international pact called the Paris Agreement, organized by the United Nations, declared that human actions must be altered to avoid bringing disastrous climate change.
The quest to eliminate greenhouse gases has two main aims: to drastically cut the amount of new greenhouse gases being produced and to clean existing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Both goals are ambitious and will require great efforts and cooperation from nations, businesses, scientists, and individuals worldwide.
Ending the creation of new greenhouse gases will require a drastic shift in human behavior. People will have to end their reliance on fossil fuels, instead using power from other, cleaner sources. Some likely candidates for future energy needs include wind, water, and solar power. Until these alternative “green” sources meet their full potential, people can limit their use of fossil fuels by simply reducing energy waste. Everyday actions include riding a bicycle or walking instead of driving a car and shutting off lights when exiting a room.
The goal of cleaning existing greenhouse gases is also a major undertaking. This goal involves two main actions: removing gases from the atmosphere and storing them in a manner that is safer for the planet. Scientists have devised many possible methods for achieving these goals, which would likely be used in tandem for the best results.
The most direct method of removing greenhouse gas is to use machines to filter air and remove carbon dioxide, a process known as Direct Air Capture and Carbon Storage (DACCS). These systems use giant fans to suck in air and push it over absorbent materials that pull out harmful gas. However, operating a DACCS system requires land and energy, and requires other technologies for storing the retrieved gases.
The simplest method of cleaning greenhouse gases is to plant trees and promote and protect forests. Plants naturally absorb carbon dioxide and other gases from the surrounding air, and store these gases within their bodies. Large forests of trees have the ability to filter huge amounts of harmful gases from the atmosphere. Increasing forests, improving forest management, and restoring and protecting various other natural habitats are important steps for greenhouse gas removal.
Just as changes to forests can help the atmosphere, so too can changes to the oceans. Oceans cover the vast majority of the world’s surface. Scientists have determined that promoting ocean life, particularly plants that use photosynthesis to grow, can help to remove carbon dioxide. Similarly, promoting chemical changes in ocean water, such as increasing calcium amounts, can help to absorb greenhouse gas and undo some of the negative effects of global warming. The oceans can serve as filters to help clean the air.
Even when greenhouse gases are removed from the atmosphere, they are not destroyed or rendered inert. Rather, they are only temporarily contained. Scientists must use an array of other techniques to keep these gases from re-entering the atmosphere too quickly. Some of the most useful techniques involve incorporating the gases into soil, whether through plowing or through adding biochar (partly burned organic material). Similarly, some minerals can be employed to capture and hold unwanted gases.
Another way of storing unwanted greenhouse gases is to incorporate them into building materials. Building with wood and other forms of biomass causes the gases inside the wood to be captured for a longer time. Similarly, formulating concrete that incorporates unwanted material can allow millions of tons of greenhouse gas to be stored safely within various construction projects.
Bibliography
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