carbon dioxide – Queer Sci Fi

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What If: Someone Discovered a Cheap and Easy Way to Capture Massive Amounts of Carbon?

July 6, 2022 by scott

Every Wednesday, we’re asking a what-if question – how would our world be different if something were changed? Today’s question is from QSFer Scott: What if someone discovered a cheap, easy and scalable way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? Share your serious scientific analyses, your off-color jokes, and random thoughts on the topic on our FB and MeWe Groups: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABV MeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

Pulling Carbon Out of the Atmosphere

November 22, 2020 by scott

Nature has equipped Earth with several giant “sponges,” or carbon sinks, that can help humans battle climate change. These natural sponges, as well as human-made ones, can sop up carbon, effectively removing it from the atmosphere. But what does this sci-fi-like act really entail? And how much will it actually take — and cost — to make a difference and slow climate change? Sabine Fuss has been looking for these answers for the last two years. An economist in Berlin, Fuss leads a research group at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change and was part of … Read more

SCIENCE: Naked Mole Rats, CO2, and Seizures

May 1, 2020 by scott

Naked mole rats are supremely weird creatures — they don’t need much oxygen, and instead have seizures if they don’t get enough carbon dioxide, the chemical humans exhale when we breathe, researchers just found.The scientists found that the wrinkled rodents will even seek out areas that have been infused with the gas. But why? Turns out, due to a genetic mutation, naked mole rats lack an important switch in their brains that helps to tamp down electrical activity in the organ, and thus, prevent seizures, according to a new study published today (April 30) in the journal Current Biology. This … Read more

CO2 reaches Levels Last Seen Before Humankind Evolved

May 31, 2019 by scott

There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there has been for 800,000 years — since before our species evolved. On Saturday (May 11), the levels of the greenhouse gas reached 415 parts per million (ppm), as measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. Scientists at the observatory have been measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since 1958. But because of other kinds of analysis, such as those done on ancient air bubbles trapped in ice cores, they have data on levels reaching back 800,000 years. During the ice ages, carbon dioxide levels in … Read more

REPORT: Earth Dangerously Close to the Tipping Point for a ‘Hothouse Earth’

August 29, 2018 by scott

It’s the year 2300. Extreme weather events such as building-flattening hurricanes, years-long droughts and wildfires are so common that they no longer make headlines. The last groups of humans left near the sizzling equator pack their bags and move toward the now densely populated poles. This so-called “hothouse Earth,” where global temperatures will be 7 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (4 to 5 degrees Celsius) higher than preindustrial temperatures and sea levels will be 33 to 200 feet (10 to 60 meters) higher than today, is hard to imagine — but easy to fall into, said a new perspective article published … Read more