Open AccessEven industrial‐scale carbon removal would not fully undo modern warming
Author(s) -
Schultz Colin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1002/2014eo010026
Subject(s) - permafrost , carbon dioxide , environmental science , atmosphere (unit) , global warming , fossil fuel , carbon fibers , methane , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , scale (ratio) , greenhouse gas , carbon cycle , glacier , earth science , climate change , physical geography , meteorology , geology , waste management , geography , materials science , oceanography , chemistry , ecology , engineering , cartography , organic chemistry , ecosystem , composite number , composite material , biology
Unless the world embarks on a massive program to deliberately remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with the scale of the carbon withdrawal industry ramping up to eventually mirror the size of the modern fossil fuel industry, the bulk of modern anthropogenic warming will persist for at least the next 10,000 years, previous studies have shown. New research by MacDougall shows that if widespread active carbon removal is initiated, temperatures could be brought nearly in line with preindustrial levels by the year 3000. However, to counterbalance the release of carbon dioxide and methane from former permafrost soils, from 115% to 181% of the carbon dioxide emitted since the dawn of the industrial era would need to be drawn out of the atmosphere. Regardless of how aggressively carbon is drawn out of the air, some changes, such as the melting of Greenland's glaciers, would not be fully reversed by the year 3000.