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When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released
its Climate Change 2007 Report, it named carbon dioxide (CO2) the most
important human produced greenhouse gas. The report confirmed that the
high levels of CO2 in our atmosphere are caused by fossil fuel
emissions and are a major contributor to global warming. The increased
occurrence of extreme weather such as droughts, heavy precipitation,
heat waves, and intensity of hurricanes and typhoons is a symptom of
climate change.
 Several
options will be needed to moderate CO2 levels in our atmosphere. One
approach to lowering atmospheric CO2 levels, called Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration,
includes planting vegetation or enhancing an already present ecosystem
to increase CO2 absorption. This is a gradual, long-term strategy that
allows us to absorb CO2 while rehabilitating ecological systems.
Another exciting approach is called Geologic Carbon Sequestration,
meaning to sequester or capture CO2 and store it in rock formations
deep beneath the earth’s surface. While our world’s energy providers
race to find new ways to produce energy with less CO2 emissions,
geologic carbon sequestration is an action we can take today to lower
CO2 in our atmosphere.
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