A World Of Heat

This summer, China experienced record heat and historic floods, yet there has been little public debate on climate change and what the world's top carbon polluter can do about it. Campaigners, such as Liu Jun Yan of Greenpeace East Asia, have called it a missed opportunity, and the coverage by mainstream media has been disappointing.

According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China's CO2 emissions grew by 10% in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier. While China has set some bold green targets, such as President Xi Jinping's pledge to make the country carbon neutral by 2060, experts want faster action and worry that Beijing is failing to engage the public, which could slow the transition. There has been a notable absence of climate change debate in media coverage of the extreme weather, despite the fact that floods have damaged homes and crops in the province.

While state media defends China's record on climate change and calls on developed countries to take more responsibility, campaigners are anxious that governments are backpedaling on climate. China's climate campaigns tend to be state-led, and there is limited room for citizen participation and discussion. The issue is misused, and alternative voices are suppressed, wasting the possibilities for scientific discussions. Climate change is used as an issue by the media to glorify the state and the supreme leader and to attack the US and other Western countries.

One year ago, President Biden and Vice President Harris made the largest climate investment in America's history, designed to dramatically expand solar and wind energy production, lower energy costs for working families, and put millions of electric vehicles on the road. They have committed nearly one trillion dollars to build a thriving clean energy economy for America, creating millions of good-paying clean energy jobs, rebuilding America's manufacturing, and driving American innovation. They are also building thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines to get the energy where it is most needed and giving working families tax credits and rebates to afford clean energy upgrades. All these investments create jobs, good-paying union jobs, for workers in the clean energy economy. Young climate leaders are guiding the nation in the climate fight, driven by their hope and determination to correct the course.

With optimism and partnership, the President and Vice President have shown just how much can be accomplished together to build a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous future for everyone.

What we can do.

Scientists concur that climate change is occurring and that the Earth is experiencing a rise in temperature. While this necessitates a serious effort to limit carbon dioxide emissions, scientists are also exploring alternative solutions, as a contingency plan may be required. Climate engineering or geoengineering is being considered by many researchers as a means of altering the climate. Some of these ideas have been discussed previously, such as the concept of releasing substances into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and cool the planet. However, such large-scale interventions would have significant drawbacks, such as altering rainfall patterns and other unpredictable consequences. Consequently, some researchers are exploring alternative methods, such as using the Earth to clean up our carbon emissions.

There are three ways in which this could be achieved. Plants are beneficial to the environment as they can absorb CO2 from the air and produce oxygen. However, due to farming and other land uses, there is insufficient space to plant enough trees to address the issue of climate change. Nevertheless, the oceans offer a potential solution, as they are capable of growing plants, such as seaweed, which can grow up to 30-60 times faster than land plants. Seaweed farms are being proposed as a solution to our carbon emissions, as the seaweed can be converted into biofuel to power vehicles. One research group has estimated that if 9% of the ocean were devoted to seaweed farming, it could provide all the biofuel required globally. Furthermore, if emissions from the fuel were captured, it would be possible to remove as much CO2 as the world produces annually. This could offset all our emissions by 2035 and return us to the safe level of carbon dioxide of 350 parts per million by 2085.

While seaweed is effective at removing carbon, some engineers and start-ups are attempting to improve on nature by creating artificial trees and plants. These machines would use direct air capture technology to remove carbon dioxide from the air. Different machines work in different ways, but most use specialized materials that bind CO2 more tightly than other molecules. The systems either store the gas indefinitely or use it for biofuel. Some, including a running prototype in Iceland, even turn the CO2 into stone. However, the primary issue with all of these methods is cost. While prototypes exist, they are expensive, and it would require billions of dollars to solve the climate problem.

Another option is to bypass plants and pseudo-plants entirely and freeze carbon dioxide out of the air. This is a strange proposal, but the idea is relatively simple. First, go to a place where it is extremely cold, such as Antarctica, where carbon dioxide almost freezes on its own. Then, build freezers to bring the temperature down to about 140° Celsius below zero. Depending on the pressure, this is sufficient to turn the CO2 into snow, which can be stored in a frozen landfill indefinitely. However, the energy for the freezers would have to come from a renewable source, such as a nearby wind farm. One group of scientists believes that 16 or so wind farms would be sufficient to power 450 snow plants and remove 1 billion metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually.

Compared to true geoengineering efforts, all of these ideas are relatively small-scale, and they would need to be scaled up significantly to have a significant impact on carbon levels. However, because they are less risky, they are more likely to be attempted than any major project. At this point, this may be the most important thing.