This Simple Technology Could Save The World In Two Ways
The Climate crisis & world hunger could be a thing of the past.
We are staring down the barrel of some of the most colossal challenges humans have ever faced. Our way of life is literally destroying the planet, and we are struggling to adapt fast enough to avoid a global catastrophe. Not only that, but global food insecurity is increasing as more and more people don’t know where their next meal will come from. However, a recent study has shown that a surprisingly simple technology, enhanced rock weathering (EW), solves both of these pressing issues.
So, what is EW? Well, it starts in the clouds.
Carbon dioxide is soluble, so vast amounts of our emissions are absorbed by clouds. Once absorbed, the carbon dioxide reacts with the water, forming carbonic acid, which falls as acid rain. A very abundant type of rock, basalt, strongly reacts with carbonic acid. This turns the carbonic acid into soluble carbonate minerals, which are washed out to the sea. As such, the weathering of basalt rock actually pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and buries it in the ocean. But, as the basalt weathers down, it also releases minerals trapped within it, like phosphorus, magnesium and calcium, fertilising the surrounding land.
