As the world begins to realise just how much of a threat global warming is to both our planet and ourselves, countries around the world are implementing climate targets to attempt to limit the temperature increase of our planet. For example, the UK has recently put into place a law that sets a target of reduced emissions by 2035 that is 78% lower than emissions in 1990. This would put the UK well on track to reach the net zero by 2050 target set out by an earlier agreement. It’s all very well to outline these targets, however, they won’t be reached without action.
In order to reach these targets, we need to reduce our existing emissions and begin to reverse the damaging CO2 emissions we have been releasing into the atmosphere for years. This will not be done without the use of technology. We are constantly researching methods and developing technology that can aid us in our fight against global warming. For example, some technology aims to reduce the emissions of existing polluters to ‘clean up’ processes, while more recently and ambitiously others aim to remove CO2 from the atmosphere directly. The potential of technology to reduce global warming is immense and only grows as our research and understanding deepens, and we can develop our technology further.
On this page, we shall be writing articles to showcase some of the latest technology and ideas being researched and employed to help reduce global warming. We will be aiming these articles towards a general, layperson audience in the hope that anyone can find our articles accessible and engaging. Ultimately, getting more people behind the fight for global warming is always a good thing, and will hopefully put more pressure on those in power to act further. Please read on to discover some of the incredible technologies being harnessed right now to help fight global warming!
Blue Carbon: Why are we destroying some of the most useful tools to combat global warming?
Usually, we think of trees as the powerhouses that suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere during photosynthesis. While they are certainly good at that, there are lesser known biological systems found in the ocean and coastal environments (‘blue carbon systems’) which can capture and store CO2 at a much greater rate. In this article, we discover how these crucial systems have in the past faced massive destruction and even continue to today, as well as what some are doing (with the help of David Attenborough!) to reverse the damage and restore these vital systems.
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Combatting global warming often refers to lowering the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere is a common form. But, what if there was a way to reduce the temperature of the earth to counteract some of these harmful events that are caused by greenhouse gases? Marine cloud brightening does just that, it essentially pumps saltwater in its gaseous form to the atmosphere, allowing clouds to condense around it and these clouds and these particles cause radiation to reflect out into space and thus counteracts some of the house greenhouse gases are causing.
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Direct Air Capture – The future of CO2 removal?
One of the most simple and logical ways to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and thus global warming is just to suck the CO2 out of the air…right? Well, that actually appears to be a viable solution for which the technology is still being developed and refined. ‘Direct Air Capture’ as it is otherwise called seems to be a promising new method of greenhouse gas removal which could potentially remove massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, significantly aiding our mission of reaching net zero carbon emissions. In this article, we explore two companies that are at the forefront of the sector, as well as the potential and feasibility of direct air capture being used as a significant tool for reducing emissions in the future.
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To prevent climate change, large changes are needed across many sectors and what better way of making things more efficient than employing AI or machines to tell us what can be better? AI offers ways of looking at huge quantities of data and coming up with solutions. It has many applications such as predicting extreme weather, modelling supply and demand and many more applications.
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Hydrogen: The Fuel of the Future?
In this article, we explore hydrogen and its potential use in the future. There was a lot of ‘hype’ surrounding hydrogen in the early 2000s as the world began to realise what hydrogen could do for the planet. Unfortunately, interest began to drop later on as other technologies and research took the limelight. Today however hydrogen is making a resurgence, and as a result, increasingly many countries are incorporating hydrogen into their climate change policies for the future. Here we shall discuss how hydrogen can benefit the planet and reduce global warming, as well as other surprising uses. We shall also see however how hydrogen is currently not as clean as it appears on the surface, and the promising research going on right now we are carrying out to try and change this.
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This article focuses on planting trees and one method of doing it, drones. An estimated 15 billion trees are cut down each year and even ignoring the impact on our atmosphere, this can cause many other devastating effects that this method can hopefully prevent. As global warming is largely caused by CO2 in the atmosphere, it follows that planting trees to undergo photosynthesis would prove an effective global warming prevention technique. To find out how it works and its impact on global warming read away!
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The fact that plastic is incredibly damaging to our planet in many ways is a well known thing. What is less well known are the significant carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of plastics. The problem we have is that the alternatives to plastic, though they may be friendlier to the planet in terms of biodegradability, are just as harmful when it comes to emissions. In this article we explore what one company is doing to create an alternative to plastic which is also carbon negative! There is a reason why this is being thought of as one of the most promising plastic alternatives for the future.
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Even if we were to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the average global temperature would still increase for the coming decades. This means it’s important to not only reach net-zero as fast as possible but to adapt the world in such a way that it will reduce the risks that climate change brings. Reforestation (as you can read about in the article) is an example of an adaptation strategy as it prevents land from becoming less able to support plant and tree life and reduces the chances of soil erosion and flooding.
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