27 October — How effective is carbon dioxide removal at reversing global warming?

Date: 27 October 2020
Time: 12:00pm
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Dr. Kirsten Zickfeld
Topic: How effective is carbon dioxide removal at reversing global warming?

Abstract:  The majority of emission scenarios that limit warming to 2°C, and nearly all emission scenarios that do not exceed 1.5°C warming by the year 2100 require artificial removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies in these scenarios are required to offset emissions from sectors that are difficult or costly to decarbonize and to generate global ‘net negative’ emissions, allowing to compensate for earlier emissions and to meet long-term climate stabilization targets after overshoot. In my talk I will explore the effectiveness of CDR in lowering atmospheric CO2 and cooling global climate (“cooling effectiveness”) drawing on simulations with an Earth system model of intermediate complexity. I will also explore the extent to which the Earth system response to a CO2 removal is equal and opposite to the response to a CO2 emission.