Every day, 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) are emitted into the atmosphere, or 40 billion tonnes a year. Is that a lot? In short, yes. Human-caused emissions have added up to over a 50% increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times. Even if we were to halt emissions completely now, that excess CO2 is already out there warming the planet. Unless we want to, in the words of the European Academies Science Advisory Council, “condemn humanity to a dangerously warming world”, we must find ways to remove CO2 from the atmosphere in massive quantities.
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