Climate change is no longer a 'World War III'-level crisis and experts, what are the four 'weapons' important in combating climate change?

In March 2020, there was also a claim that 'to control climate change requires international cooperation equivalent to measures for new coronavirus infectious diseases ', and climate change is an international issue that requires cooperation from each country. The situation. Meanwhile, Professor Malcolm McCulloch, a biogeochemistry professor at the University of Western Australia, announced that climate change is 'we must fight it like World War III.' He proposed four climate change countermeasures as weapons for that purpose.

We must fight climate change like it's World War III – here are 4 potent weapons to deploy
https://theconversation.com/we-must-fight-climate-change-like-its-world-war-iii-here-are-4-potent-weapons-to-deploy-131052

◆1: More tree planting
Afforestation has a large effect on climate change because forests have the function of blocking the sunlight with leaves to soften the summer heat, and in the winter to prevent heat radiation from the ground surface to suppress the cold, thereby calming the climate. Can be expected.

In addition, according to a research published in 2019, McCulloch et al. said, 'Globally, there will be 1.2 trillion trees in the world and 900 million hectares (9 million square kilometers) of land for planting trees.' Is estimated to remain,” he noted, saying there is ample room for large-scale afforestation.

The details of the research results taken by McCulloch and others are detailed in the following articles.

Researchers assert that ``forestation is the most powerful countermeasure against global warming''-GIGAZINE

Large-scale afforestation programs also have the benefit of creating jobs in the areas that are being planted. To that end, McCarrock and colleagues argued that a framework for trading carbon emissions should strengthen international cooperation aimed at promoting forestation.

Also, growing a forest on a previously tree-less land requires a large amount of water, but in some areas it is possible to desalinize seawater to secure water. This can be solved by applying the following 'carbon mineralization' technology.

◆2: Convert carbon dioxide into rock by carbon mineralization
'Carbon mineralization' is a technique that converts emitted carbon dioxide into carbonate minerals and semi-permanently preserves it, similar to the formation of limestone in nature. There are various methods for this, and examples include ' technology of reacting carbon dioxide with magnesium and calcium contained in salt water discharged from a seawater desalination plant ' and ' mineral waste and carbon dioxide by the action of bacteria .' 'The technology of reacting and solidifying ' is being studied.

With regard to these technologies, since there are many cities facing the sea and Australia with a warm climate is often the right place, Mr. McCulloch and others said, 'I will immediately look at the scale-up for large-scale commercialization. But we should put the demo plant into operation in Australia.'

◆3: Reflect more sunlight on the surface of the earth
Since white objects reflect sunlight, it has been proposed by Stephen Chu and others at the Nobel Prize in Physics that 'roofs around the world should be painted white to stop global warming.' According to Mr. Chu, if the roofs of the world are painted white, it will be as effective as the disappearance of all cars from the earth for 11 years.

Nobel Prize in Physics advocates that roofs around the world should be painted white to stop global warming-GIGAZINE

McCulloch and colleagues went further and said, ``By mixing white limestone with black asphalt on the road, leaving stumps in the field during the summer, and growing light-colored crops, the reflectance of the ground surface is changed to change the surface of the ground. It can significantly reduce the heat absorbed by.' According to a study published in 2018, it is estimated that the global warming of these efforts will cool the earth and reduce the temperature at extreme high temperatures by up to 3 degrees.

Also, if you can suppress the heating of the building by making the roof of the building whiter, you can reduce the use of air conditioners and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

◆4: Reduce fuel consumption for transportation
The carbon dioxide emitted by the world shipping industry in 2015 is estimated to be 812 million tons, but if it does not do anything as it is, it will emit more carbon dioxide by 2050. Is expected to be. 'It is possible to reduce fuel consumption by imposing speed limits on vessels that are not powered by renewable energy,' said McCulloch and others on carbon dioxide emitted by the shipping industry.

Also, not only for shipping but also for automobiles, ``In Norway, which strongly promotes the use of zero-emission vehicles powered by hydrogen and electricity, 60% of the new vehicles sold in March 2019 are electric vehicles. Other regions should follow these precedents.'

``As global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the government not only wants to win the war of climate change, but also to prevent the enormous social costs of climate change,'' said McCulloch. We have to put in all the available weapons,” and once again reaffirmed the sense of crisis against climate change.