Cleaning Up the Excess CO2
The other way to reduce the air’s excess CO2 is to unbalance the carbon cycle, typically by preventing some of the CO2 captured by photosynthesis from going back into the air when cells decompose. One has to stash dead biomass where the air can’t get to it. While sealed landfills help, it is only the ocean depths that would appear to have the capacity to draw down all of the CO2 that we have added since 1750.
To Treat Climate Change Ills, Carbon Removal and GHG Emissions Reduction Must Be Big and Quick
Not only must carbon removal be big enough but it and emissions reduction must together be fast enough to remove us from the danger zones for abrupt climate shifts before something big happens. A serious jolt would cause catastrophic crop failures and food riots within a year, creating global waves of climate refugees with the attendant famine, pestilence, war, and genocide.
I’d say that we must clean up CO2 by 2030. Acquiescing in a slower approach is like playing Russian roulette with the climate gun. Our climate fix must be big and quick.
