The Solution to Climate Change Might Be Right Under Our Feet

Every day, power plants and industries across the globe emit nearly 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — an effect that has pushed our climate into a dangerous zone, causing the Arctic to melt at an alarming rate, sea levels to rise, and weather patterns to shift across the world. But change is brewing and our best shot at reducing those emissions might be right under our feet. Projects are now being developed that capture the harmful gas before it's released into the atmosphere and bury it deep in the Earth. With such a massive carbon storage facility beneath our feet, scientists have been tackling various CCS projects for decades. The thought was that CCS could ultimately trap up to 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions — effectively slowing the rate at which we pump out the climate-altering gas.But 2017 might be a pivotal year for CCS technologies. Experts say that the variety of projects coming online now spotlight the possibilities of the field at large and show its promise for the future. One project might even be able to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a crucial step toward the overarching goal of mitigating climate change.