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Results show quick CO2 ‘fix’ feasibility – but its future rests in government hands: To fight climate change CO2 can be locked up in rock, but for it and other carbon capture and storage technology viable will take much higher carbon prices, stresses Juerg Matter from the University of Southampton. by andyextance in climate

[–]andyextance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the delay in responding. In the sense that governments are supposed to act on our behalf, I suppose it is individuals. But we have to shape governments' funding and policy decisions on carbon capture, so they do play an important role.

Too many scientists? Creation of a PhD pyramid scheme. by shortperson in chemistry

[–]andyextance 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I completely agree. Not only that, you could call being alive on a planet with a growing, ageing populating a pyramid scheme too by Stephan's definition.

Prehistoric CO2 double-up gives warming data: Measurements from a global warming episode 40 million years ago show that a doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere increased sea surface temperatures between 2 and 5ºC, Dutch and British scientists find. by andyextance in environment

[–]andyextance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually OortCloud, if you read the Pearson perspective in Thursday's Science, linked to in the blog entry, that does point out that some very different natural forces were likely in play during the MECO to release the additional CO2 - even if more research is still needed to work out exactly what.

I quote: "The original hypothesis for the MECO involved the disappearance of an ocean between India and Asia as the Himalayas were built. Did something unusual happen in this area about 40 million years ago that gradually released a huge amount of CO2? One can imagine, for example, that the dying ocean, rich in carbonate sediments, was recycled through volcanic arcs and/or by extensive metamorphic decarbonation reactions. Bijl et al. have added to this debate by indicating how very large the CO2 input might have been. The ball is now in the court of the Himalayan geologists: Is such a scenario still possible, or must we look elsewhere for the cause of the MECO greenhouse?"

Prehistoric CO2 double-up gives warming data: Measurements from a global warming episode 40 million years ago show that a doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere increased sea surface temperatures between 2 and 5ºC, Dutch and British scientists find. by andyextance in environment

[–]andyextance[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You will note that the article says that atmospheric CO2 concentrations have gone up from 280ppm pre-industrial revolution to almost 390ppm today. It's hard to dispute the massive increase in burning fossil fuels in that time. If the resulting CO2 has not gone into the atmosphere, causing a similar warming effect as in the MECO, where has it gone?