Changes in climate resulting from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere are not equal to the climate changes from deliberate CO2 removals—and assuming such a balance could lead to different climate outcomes that may skew climate targets, according to new Simon Fraser University-led research.
Changes in climate resulting from carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere are not equal to the climate changes from deliberate CO2 removals—and assuming such a balance could lead to different climate outcomes that may skew climate targets, according to new Simon Fraser University-led research.
“Because of the complexity of the Earth’s system, things are not as simple as “one ton of CO2 in, equals one ton of CO2 out,” says Kirsten Zickfeld, a distinguished professor of climate science in SFU’s Department of Geography, and lead author of a new paper published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change. “CO2 emissions are more effective at raising atmospheric CO2 concentration than CO2 removals are at lowering it.”
According to Zickfeld, this “asymmetry” implies that a larger amount of CO2 removal is required to compensate for a given amount of CO2 emissions if the atmospheric CO2 concentration is to remain unchanged.
Researchers used a series of climate model simulations to test whether the change in climate resulting from CO2 emissions and removals is asymmetric. Their results showed that the rise in the atmospheric CO2 concentration following an emission is larger than the decline following a removal of the same magnitude.
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SFU professor Kirsten Zickfeld (Photo Credit: Simon Fraser University)
