But i never quoted anyone, or made presumptions. I merely stated what i think is correct, the fact that it may not be is quite likely.

Befo...

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Never and "one million year-ish" are very different matters (especially given the planet is about 4.6 billion years old).
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OK, before we get in to the usual merry go round. Can we try a different approach?

It has been said for a number of years that we are x yea...

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Forget co2, the real problem is the loss of vegetation from vast areas of once fertile and productive land, now transformed into arid environments tha... Whole Thread | Post Reply

If there's too much CO2 in the atmosphere, and this is causing the climate to change, then surely we can just suck it back out and hide it, no?

Maybe, and several scientists are looking at ways to do just that.  If we could find a way to store the CO₂ we create by burning fossil fuels, then maybe we can avoid adding more to the atmosphere.  But how can you store CO₂?

 

 

Turning CO₂ to Rock

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have suggested that by pumping CO₂-rich water through flood basalt, a type of porous rock left

behind by lava flows, could safely lock away the carbon.  In the lab, flood basalt will turn CO₂ into Calcium Carbonate - the form found in limestone or seashells, and if the same will happen in the vast deposits of flood basalt in the Pacific Northwest, we could potentially store centuries worth of CO₂.  Dr Pete McGrail will be on the show to tell us about the latest tests...

 

Catching Carbon in Coal

What if we could trap CO₂ and get something useful in return?  Meera spoke to Professor Peter Styles about a new possibility in carbon storage.  Peter and his team from Keele University are looking at using enhanced coal bed methane, ECBM, for carbon sequestration.  In ECBM, carbon dioxide is pumped into an un-minable coal seam to displace methane gas, which is then extracted and used as a fuel.  This way, the CO₂ is stored in previously unusable mines, and we can use the methane released as a fuel!

 

Put it in Plankton

A more natural approach could be to encourage the organisms that trap CO₂ to thrive.  By seeding the oceans with iron, companies like Climos hope to be able to get plankton to flourish, taking up CO₂ as they grow.  When these plankton then die off, they naturally sink and take the carbon to the sea bed.

But even if this works to trap CO₂, is encouraging a bloom of plankton a good idea?  Dr Chris Vivian, from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, CEFAS, talks us through why changing the balance of species in our oceans may have long term unexpected consequences.

 Red Ant Dead Ant

We'll also be hearing about a species of ant called Cephalotes atratus.  When this ant is infected by a nematode worm parasite, the parasite causes the ant's abdomen to swell up and look like a tasty berry to any passing birds.  These ants are then more likely to be eaten and the parasite gets passed on in the bird's faeces.

This is the first known example of a parasite 'mimicking' a fruit, and we'll hear more on the Naked Scientists...

A healthy Ant	An ant infected by the nematode worm