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Climate crisis: Can high-tech save the planet?

June 12, 2023

Can high-tech solutions help protect the climate? What would be the side effects of further human intervention in nature?

https://p.dw.com/p/4SUJK

Attempts are being made to use technical solutions to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with technical solutions. For example, new carbon capture technology that can extract carbon dioxide from air and water, even if the amount currently captured is minimal and not enough to prevent the climate crisis and its consequences. Still, there is no shortage of ideas. Adding basalt rock dust to agricultural fields not only binds carbon dioxide but keeps the soil fertile. Biochar, made from organic waste, has a similar effect. Some ideas are bolder: A protective screen of particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere could filter sunlight, as seen with the eruption of the Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines in 1991. The millions of tons of sulfur dioxide spewed into the stratosphere cooled the earth significantly. Theoretically, aircraft could be used to deliver the particles. But experts warn that the consequences for humans and the weather would be felt worldwide and could never be fully controlled.