The current goal of the world’s climate scientists and researchers is to make sure that the Earth’s overall temperature does not increase by more than two degrees Celsius. The Climate Science Special Report has reported a number of key findings in their 2017 publication, including that “if greenhouse gas concentrations were stabilized at their current level, existing concentrations would commit the world to at least an additional 1.1°F (0.6°C) of warming over this century relative to the last few decades.” The report goes on to state that the “global mean atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has now passed 400 parts per million (ppm), a level that last occurred about 3 million years ago, when global average temperature and sea level were significantly higher than today.” Additionally it reports that “continued growth in CO2 emissions over this century and beyond would lead to an atmospheric concentration not experienced in tens of millions of years.”
Unfortunately, the views of the current federal administration of the United States on climate change are terrifyingly indifferent, despite the fact that the latest National Climate Assessment (November 3, 2017) stated with 90 to 100 percent certainty that global warming is human-caused, specifically because of the burning of fossil fuels. Before that, however, on March 28 of last year, President Trump signed the Energy Independence Executive Order, which repealed Obama-era climate-oriented policies and boosted coal and fossil fuel productions.
On June 1, Trump announced his plans to back out of the Paris Accords, an international climate agreement meant to lower the negative impact that countries have on the environment. These attempts have been exemplified by France. Despite the fact that France depends largely on nuclear energy, President Macron has set many plans in motion meant to lessen the country’s carbon emissions, as well as inviting U.S. climate scientists to research in France, where their work would be recognized. Among other things, Macron has refused to give out any more licenses for oil drilling exploration. He also aims to reduce carbon emission by 20 percent by 2040, use 20 percent more renewable energy, and switch to electric cars across the country by the same year.
France is also collaborating with China on an oceanography satellite that will measure ocean waves and how they change in proportion to temperatures change (specifically when they rise), and how that relates to water-borne storms. In light of recent devastating storms like Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, being able to better predict these catastrophic storms would save many lives. Better development plans that do not place homes in fire zones and dangerous flooding zones would also decrease the effects of these natural disasters.
Another world leader working to lessen climate change is Katrin Jakobsdottir, the new Prime Minister of Iceland. Apart from being trusted by her people, her primary goal is to create an eco-friendly tourism industry in her country. This example is proof that being climate-friendly is not anti-government, and is in fact economically beneficial, especially in terms of long-term effects.
Meanwhile, in the United States, December 4, 2017 saw an 85 percent cut to Bears Ears National Monument , as well as a 50 percent cut to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, both in Utah. These cuts are likely unconstitutional (the president has the power to protect land, but whether or not “unprotection” is an option is ambiguous) and would give more room to developments that would only increase carbon footprints. Then, on December 18, Trump announced that climate change would be dropped from the list of national security threats. Amid this senseless disinterest, weather is becoming more extreme, with record lows across the country and around the world, as well as many ongoing natural disasters, including the worst fires on record in California.
However, people are not simply standing by as the world prepares to burn. One of the latest plans to stop climate change involves taking CO2 directly out of the air. A Switzerland-based company called Climeworks, founded by Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, was the first company to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and safely sell it to buyers, in this case for the purpose of helping grow crops. The CO2 is removed from the air and separated at temperatures above 100oC, then sent underground to help with agriculture. Those against this technology argue that it is not cost-effective, and while Climeworks has funding from the European Union and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, Howard Herzog of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that commercial use of this technology could cost up to $1,000 per ton of CO2, which is ten times what it would cost to remove carbon at fossil fuel plants. Indeed, some argue that it would make more sense to take this approach, as the carbon in early states of fossil fuel production is less diffused and would also never go into the atmosphere in the first place.
Climeworks currently plans to remove 900 tons of CO2 per plant per year, which is equivalent to the emissions from 200 cars. They admit that it would take 250,000 commercial plants in order to capture 1 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. Although this technology is not perfect, the idea of using CO2 for agriculture and creating negative-emissions plants is certainly appealing, and more research may lead to more efficient technologies.
Overall, the situation of the planet is certainly grim, but not yet hopeless. The window for reversing the effects of climate change is closing quickly, but scientists around the world are working to develop technologies to combat climate change, as well as providing alternatives to existing technologies and energy sources, including the promotion of electric cars and solar, wind, and water energy. Despite the Trump administration’s lack of concern about the worsening state of affairs, international leaders are working hard to combat global warming and climate change. It is a struggle that affects all of humanity, and a struggle that must be won for the inhabitants of the planet to survive.