Scientists have figured out how to rapidly create lab-made magnesite, a mineral capable of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as a possible global warming solution.
People simply need to look at nature to see the signs of global warming, and how the phenomenon is affecting them. Magnesite will likely not prevent climate change by itself, but as things worsen for the Earth, scientists continue to desperately seek solutions.
Cheap And Quick Way To Make Magnesite
Magnesite, which is capable of sucking and storing carbon dioxide, has the potential to be a global warming solution. The mineral may remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for long-term storage, and combined with measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, may slow or even reverse the effects of climate change.
Magnesite may be combined with carbon sequestration, a process in which carbon is injected and stored underground, usually in depleted gas and oil fields.
A tonne of natural magnesite may remove half a tonne of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but the problem is that magnesite's rate of formation in the environment is very slow. According to project leader Ian Power, a professor from Trent University in Ontario, magnesite's natural formation takes hundreds to thousands of years on the Earth's surface.
To make magnesite a more feasible global warming solution, Power and his team discovered a way to make the mineral in the lab cheaper and faster. Using polystyrene microspheres as the catalyst, the researchers were able to create magnesite within 72 days. The microspheres themselves do not undergo any changes in the process, so they can be reused to make more magnesite.
Finding a way to create magnesite on an industrial scale is still a far cry from deploying the mineral to help the fight against global warming. However, reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is considered the most effective way of preventing the worsening of climate change, so the research into magnesite is an important step in preserving the Earth.
Global Warming Getting Worse
In July, a new study suggested that global warming may be twice as hot as climate models have previously projected, with the polar ice caps collapsing and the Sahara Desert turning green. A more recent study, meanwhile, claimed that Earth is falling into a "hothouse" state that will threaten the planet's habitability for humans, with sea levels that rise up to 200 feet higher than current levels.
Magnesite will not solve all the climate change problems, but the Earth will need all the help that it can get.
