Climate Sequestration: A Possible Solution to Climate Change
One of the big proponents of global warming is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide when released will spread around the planet like a blanket. When this happens, the gas absorbs infrared radiation which is felt as heat. This is what causes a notable portion of global warming. This is where carbon sequestration comes into play. Carbon sequsetration removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and then stores it long-term. If changes are made to allow for carbon sequestration to become more required, then we could see a big change in the fight on global warming.
So what is carbon sequestration? Carbon sequestration is the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This can be done in multile ways. One method is something that we all know about, and that is platning trees. The activities of afforestation (conversion of non forested land to forested) and reforestation (conversion of previously forested land to forested.) The way that this removes CO2 from the atmosphere is that the trees take in CO2 for photosynthesis, and release O2 back into the atmosphere. This is the most apparent way of carbon sequestration that has been discussed for decades.
Another method of carbon sequestration is the capture and storage of CO2. Policy makers, engineers, and scientists proposed a technology to create a carbon capture and storage (CCS). In this process, CO2 is first seperated from other gases in industrial emissions. It is then compressed and transported to somewhere that is isolated from the atmosphere for long-term storage. Some suitable storage locations include geologic formations such as deep saline formations (sedimentary rocks whose pores are saturated with water), depleted oil and gas reseviours, or the deep ocean. Typically the CCS process is started at the source of the emission, so this is more useful for industrial plants, and not the general public.
There are some challenges with implimenting carbon sequestration though. Companies that produce CO2 at industrial plants will be hesitant to impliment these methods into their facilities. The biggest problems are not technical, but more economical and political. We have the technology readily available to impliment CCS in industrial plants, but it will put a damper on profits for the companies they are implimented in. This makes them hesitant to impliment this practice, and it would make sense that if they were implimented, prices for these products produced by the industries would rise. If the companies do not want to impliment these practicies, then we can go to legislation to force implimentation. The issue here is that legislation can take a long time to pass, and they need to be effected evenly across all areas, or else companies will find other places that have no economic restriction on producing CO2.
Overall, Carbon Sequestration can be an important process in removing carbon dioxide from the atmoshpere. There are methods of removing CO2 generally throughout the atmosphere (planting trees) and at the source of most emissions (CCS at Industrial Facilities). These methods have been proven to be effective at removing CO2 from the atmosphere. The issues lie with the willingness of the companies to impliment CCS at their facilities, and the passing of legislature evenly and fairly to make the companies comply. If Carbon Sequestration is implimented, we may be able to put a large dent in the global warming issue.
Novoselov, A. (2024, April 9). Carbon sequestration: A critical but less-understood piece of the climate puzzle. Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/carbon-sequestration-a-critical-but-less-understood-piece-of-the-climate-puzzle/
Selin, N. (n.d.). Carbon sequestration. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/carbon-sequestration
Your title efficiently identifies both the problem and a proposed solution and should attract readers' attention. The figure clearly diagrams several of the possibilities and should help the reader quickly grasp the proposed solutions. You could actually truthfully claim in your lede that the biggest component (not "one of the big proponents") is the amount of carbon dioxide building up in the atmosphere. Usually typos and misspellings are relatively minor matters, but "Climate" instead of "Carbon" in the title is a needless distraction as is the repeated misspelling of "implement" later in the post. Your explanation of methods of carbon sequestration is quite clear and concise and (as mentioned above) usefully supported by the graphic. You might mention that some of the carbon sequestered by trees may eventually return to the atmosphere via fires or decay. You might mention as well that extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere might be of some use ultimately but it is energy intensive and inherently expensive given the volume of air that must be processed. So capture and storage at the point of emission seems to be the most practical option for the capture of industrial emissions. You are certainly right in emphasizing the political and economic difficulties of implementing carbon capture.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is useful to note this article because it is media like this that might help solve those problems. However, the UCLA institute is probably not as widely read as many more general interest sites. Overall an interesting piece on an important issue with scientific and chemical implications.