Resources
People around the world recognize the dire threat posed by climate change. Governments, businesses, and individuals are making commitments to shift to renewable energy sources, trim consumption, and otherwise reduce their carbon footprints.
But what if these well-intentioned steps are likely to be woefully inadequate to ensure the future health—or even the survival—of the human race? What if the most popular goal being pursued by today’s climate activists—net zero carbon emissions—is actually a recipe for human disaster?
Everyone wants to restore a safe climate — one that humans have actually survived long-term. In this “pre-industrial” climate, which allowed us to develop agriculture and thriving civilizations, atmospheric CO2 never rose above 300 parts per million (ppm). Today, CO2 levels are 420 ppm. Yet now we know how to bring CO2 back down to pre-industrial levels—and could do so by 2050.
Ocean iron fertilization (OIF) appears to be the fastest, safest and most effective climate restoration solution although it was controversial for a time. OIF restores fisheries and other marine life while also reducing CO2 levels at the scale needed to restore the climate. It requires lile or no public funding: instead the process produces revenue and taxes from revived fisheries.
Restoring the climate requires removing and storing a trillion tons of legacy CO2 by 2050. Nature has stored 99 percent of all the CO2 on earth in the form of limestone, made of calcium and CO2 by shellfish and other marine organisms.1 Nearly half carbon dioxide by weight, limestone is an ideal, permanent storage system for this greenhouse gas.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that causes about one third of today’s global warming. It is, however, short-lived since natural processes continually oxidize it in the atmosphere. Using Enhanced Atmospheric Methane Oxidation (EAMO), we can accelerate these processes and, at low cost, reduce atmospheric methane to pre-industrial concentrations. Doubling the background rate of methane oxidation could rewind warming back to 2002 levels by 2050. In addition, EAMO could protect humanity in the event that methane emission from melting permafrost reaches catastrophic levels.
Adapted from Climate Restoration, this 54-page white paper shows why the goal of net-zero carbon emissions set in connection with the Paris Climate Accords is not sufficient to protect the future of humanity. Authors Fiekowsky and Douglis introduce climate restoration and describe the Big Four technologies, based on natural processes, that can remove a trillion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere—thereby restoring the climate that enabled humans to thrive throughout history.
