Carbon Sequestration : An Overview

The topic of global warming as a result of increased atmospheric CO2 concentration is arguably the most important environmental issue that the world faces today. It is a global problem that will need to be solved on a global level. Over the past several hundred years, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have steadily increased.. The increase in atmospheric concentration of CO2 by 31% since 1750 from fossil fuel combustion and land use change necessitates identification of strategies for mitigating the threat of the attendant global warming. If carbon dioxide levels continue upward, further warming could have dire consequences, resulting from rising sea levels, agriculture disruptions, and stronger storms (e.g. hurricanes) striking more often. It is becoming increasingly likely that our society will need to remove large quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere in order to prevent climate change. Carbon sequestration is the term used to describe a broad class of technologies for capturing and permanently sequestering, or storing, carbon dioxide (CO2). A number of carbon sequestration approaches are being explored to help mitigate global climate change. Carbon sequestration describes long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to either mitigate or defer global warming and avoid dangerous climate change. It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases, which are released by burning fossil fuels.