If we hope to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 2C (3.6F) this century, we will need to scale up carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology to suck billions of tons of the material out of the atmosphere.
But removal efforts to date have largely focused on natural climate solutions, such as reforestation or storing carbon dioxide in soil. To avoid the worst-case scenario of global warming, engineering methods, including absorbing emissions directly from the atmosphere, must increase by at least 30 times by 2030 and 1,300 times by mid-century, according to a consortium of universities including Oxford and Germany. researchers from the Institute of International and Security Affairs said in a report Thursday.
“We found a gap between the number of CDR national plans and the scenarios needed to achieve the Paris temperature target,” the authors write. “Few national plans currently scale up the CDR beyond current levels, exposing a large shortfall. “
