Challenge #145
Removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
If the climate crisis continues to advance, there is a risk of catastrophic consequences. The Centers of the Helmholtz Association are therefore looking for ways to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere to avoid climate tipping points.
Participating centers
Due to the rapid warming of the atmosphere, the Earth's climate system is heading towards a series of critical tipping points. If these are exceeded, unstoppable mechanisms and chain reactions are set off, with catastrophic consequences for the environment. These tipping points include the possible collapse of the melting West Antarctic ice sheet and the thawing of the permafrost. The "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change" IPCC assumes that many of these tipping points can only be avoided if man-made warming is limited to below 2 degrees Celsius. It is already clear today that this goal can no longer be achieved by simply
reducing emissions. The Helmholtz Centers Alfred Wegener Institute, GEOMAR, UFZ, and GFZ are therefore investigating how CO2 can be actively removed from the atmosphere, for example, through afforestation and technological removal processes, and what consequences these "negative emissions" would have for the Earth's climate.
Image: AWI/H. Grobe
Participating centers
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