To limit warming, we will need to cut emissions as well as capture carbon
Richard Saker/Alamy
The challenge of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C or 2°C this century hinges on the need to remove massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Achieving these targets is becoming increasingly reliant on carbon capture and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, in addition to significant cuts in emissions.
The debate around the effectiveness and feasibility of carbon-management technologies has been ongoing. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledges the necessity of some level of carbon management to achieve net-zero emissions, skeptics argue that the scalability and reliability of these technologies have not been adequately demonstrated.
According to Candelaria Bergero from the University of California, Irvine, there is a divide among experts on the role of CDR, with some viewing it as essential for our survival and others cautioning against placing too much faith in unproven solutions.
A recent study conducted by Bergero and her team used a climate model to assess the impact of different emissions scenarios on global temperatures. Their findings revealed that failure to implement carbon capture or removal technologies could lead to a significant increase in temperatures, making it extremely challenging to meet the 1.5°C target.
Even the 2°C target would require unprecedented emissions reductions without any carbon management, a feat that seems unlikely given the current trajectory of global emissions. The slow progress in scaling up carbon management efforts is also a cause for concern, with existing technologies only capturing a fraction of the necessary CO2 emissions annually.
Steve Smith from the University of Oxford highlights the gap between long-term climate goals and the lack of concrete measures to achieve them in the near term. Without urgent and substantial action to deploy carbon management technologies at a large scale, meeting the Paris Agreement targets may remain out of reach.
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