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Limits of Methane & CO2 Extraction and Promise of Geoengineering
A large, looming environmental threat that gets little attention is natural methane release from receding polar ice caps, and CO2 release from massive forest fires. There is controversy on whether and how to intercept these naturally-occurring (yet human-influenced), global warming gases. The difficulties in addressing these potential “runaway” climate change sources may imply oceanic or atmospheric preventatives.
As with everything else in our country, there are currently highly polarized opinions regarding climate change. On one hand, there is climate change denial, or at least the opinion that climate change is not man-made. On the other, there are various “zero-carbon emissions by 2050” type plans that hope for complete renewable-supplied electrification within the next 30 years. The latter is noble and appropriate in the sense that it is certainly cleaner, and will help reduce CO2. However, a giant threat hanging over all of this is the runaway effect of warming (including receding polar ice and forest fires) that threaten to release methane, while releasing CO2 (from vegetation) that can no longer absorb CO2. There are technologies that can reduce these effects, including the mining of methane and biomass conversion of forests, but one wonders if these options may be “too little too late” or might create their own damage. One…
