Some believe that current methods of dealing with climate change will not thrive. Therefore, new tactics have to be employed to stop the irreversible damage that is currently being caused to earth. The attempt is handled by Professor Sir David King, UK's government's former chief scientific adviser. "What we do over the next 10 years will determine the future of humanity for the next 10,000 years," he stated.
The methods that scientists from Cambridge suggest to address climate conditions are the following:
- Carbon Dioxide recycling: A new method is based on the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) concept that involves gathering CO2 produced by human activities from its source and storing it in underground facilities. According to Peter Styring, Professor at the University of Sheffield, the new approach suggests recycling the carbon dioxide using on-site plants. "We have a source of hydrogen, we have a source of carbon dioxide, we have a source of heat and we have a source of renewable electricity from the plant. We're going to harness all those and we're going to make synthetic fuels," Prof. Styring stated.
- Re-freezing the poles: One of the major consequences of the climate change is the melting of the polar ice. Therefore, scientists are considering implementing the opposite process by re-freezing the poles. This attempt can be achieved by "brightening" the clouds above the poles in order to reflect the solar radiation, cooling the area below. A method to accomplish the concept is spraying drops of seawater into the clouds using an advanced vessel as salt particles make clouds more reflective and widespread.
- Ocean greening: Another concept to reduce CO2 trapped in the atmosphere is to geoengineer the oceans so they can absorb more of it. Such procedures include the utilization of iron salts to fertilize the sea so more plankton could grow. Until recently, research showed that such an effort would not have drastic effects and it could disrupt the ecosystem. But, Callum Roberts, Professor of York University, believes that is it time to make great decisions to tackle climate change even if they might affect the environment in another way. "Early in my career, people threw their hands up in horror at suggestions of more interventionist solutions to fix coral reefs. Now they are looking in desperation at an ecosystem that will be gone at the end of the century and now all options are on the table. At the moment, I happen to think that harnessing nature to mitigate climate change is a better way to go. But I do see the legitimacy of exploring [more radical] options as a means of steering us towards a better future," Prof. Roberts stated.
The Centre for Climate Repair belongs to Cambridge university's Carbon Neutral Futures Initiative which is led by Dr. Emily Shuckburgh. "This really is one of the most important challenges of our time, and we know we need to be responding to it with all our efforts," Dr Shuckburgh stated.