Safe levels of carbon dioxide need to be reached soon

Nov 18, 2009 23:51 GMT  ·  By
By 2100, virtually no greenhouse gas emissions need to be allowed, if temperature rises are to be kept under 2 degrees Celsius
   By 2100, virtually no greenhouse gas emissions need to be allowed, if temperature rises are to be kept under 2 degrees Celsius

Within the next 90 to 100 years, carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels will have to be all phased out, scientists reveal. A temperature rise of only two degrees Celsius would reshape the international map, modifying the borders of all countries that are next to seas and oceans. In order to avoid catastrophic floods and the loss of lives, authorities and governments needs to work together fast, so as to begin the lengthy process of ridding the world of fossil fuels, Nature News reports.

The same group that made these recommendations said that nations should also start considering options of sucking the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, in order to further mitigate the effects of global warming and climate change. One possible solution would be to expose massive amounts of rocks or artificial materials, so that the carbon is attracted and stored within. This is the same thing that happened during a previous Ice Age, when layers of exposed rocks captured tremendous amounts of CO2, until there was almost none left in the atmosphere to keep the planet cool.

The recent study results belong to Ensembles, which is a major European research consortium that is led by the UK Met Office Hadley Center. Some 65 other research institutes worldwide are also involved in the first study of its kind, to look at the long-term possibilities of mitigating global warming. A number of climate models were used for these conclusions, all based on solid scientific data collected from satellites, on-site measurements, geological record readings and other such means.

The goal of the European climate policy is not to reduce CO2 and greenhouse gas levels by as much as possible, as this would be impossible. Rather, it plans to keep the levels of carbon below 450 ppm (parts per million) globally. If this level of carbon emissions is obtained, then there is a good chance the forecast temperature rise will not exceed two degrees Celsius. According to one of the models, by 2100, all carbon emissions will have to come to a full stop. Another, more pessimistic, model shows that, by 2050, methods of extracting CO2 from the air will have to be devised.

“It's clear that if we continue our current emissions trajectory and we want to stay at 450 parts per million, we'll need to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere,” Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Global Ecology atmospheric scientist Ken Caldeira explains. “We need to reverse the trend of increasing emissions and for that we will need strong policy. If there is no international agreement to reduce emissions, no one will do it by themselves,” Toulouse, France-based National Meteorological Research Center expert Jean-François Royer adds.