With warming greater than 2 °C, there is a high risk of abrupt and irreversible changes to ecosystems such as forests, which would lead to «substantial additional climate change» considering that trees
sequester significant amounts of carbon dioxide.
After making headlines last year for pledging to invest $ 3 billion in renewable energy technologies, he's upped the ante on curbing climate change by offering a $ 25 million prize to whoever comes up with the best way of
removing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
In a statement published after the experiment was completed, the Alfred Wegener Institute, where Smetacek works, said the results «dampened hopes on the potential of the Southern Ocean to
sequester significant amounts of carbon dioxide and thus mitigate global warming.»
The trees also capture
a significant amount of carbon dioxide, helping the farm to reduce its carbon footprint.
«But it has dampened hopes on the potential of the Southern Ocean to sequester
significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and thus mitigate global warming.»
However, the data also showed that
significant amounts of carbon dioxide were being absorbed by the waters near the ocean surface.
The combustion of coal, however, adds
a significant amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere per unit of heat energy, more than does the combustion of other fossil fuels.