Sequester means to seclude or isolate. Carbon sequestering means that CO2 gas is isolated, fixed, or hidden in some place so as not to become part of the atmosphere, either temporarily or permanently.
In Nature it happens all the time and is an essential part of the "carbon cycle" which defines what happens to the element carbon within the broader study of the Earth's geochemistry. The three major sinks for CO2 and carbon are the oceans, the biosphere, which includes all living matter, such as plants, crops, forests and animals, and the soils.
CO2 gas gets fixed, or naturally sequested by dissolving in the oceans which cover about 70% of the Earth' surface. The colder the water the more CO2 can dissolve. A warming sea will release CO2 to the atmosphere just as does a warming glass of beer or wine release bubbles when initially saturated with CO2 gas.
The global warming debate has been spearheaded by Al Gore with the publication of his scary documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" where he points out a correlation between varying global temperature and CO2 content of the atmosphere, as determined over the past 200,000 years, from ice core data. The CO2 levels peak when the temperatures peak. Al Gore and his followers say that rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere actually cause the global warming by means of the greenhouse effect of CO2 in the atmosphere.
More detailed and recent analysis of Antarctic ice core data has shown conclusively that the rise in CO2 levels of the atmosphere came about 800 years after the peak in global temperatures, which suggests that the slow warming of the oceans and release of dissolved CO2 was the cause of rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere, which is the opposite to that proposed by Al Gore.
It is essential that we get the science correct. The debate has become politicized with most Western democracies promoting the idea that we must drastically cut our CO2 emissions to the atmosphere in order to prevent catastrophic global warming. The December 2009 meeting in Copenhagen of the UN's Climate Change Conference will decide what to do, if anything. Billions of dollars are at stake due to the consequences of proposed Government policies to curb CO2 emissions, which may really be unnecessary.
The global warmers are masters of spin and linguistics to promote their cause. They operate in a parallel universe to us and use a special language, called Green Speak. Names are dropped and replaced by new ones more acceptable, or the meaning
Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:
by Allan Taylor
Sequester means to seclude or isolate. Carbon sequestering means that CO2 gas is isolated, fixed, or hidden in some place
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a vital component in photosynthesis; the process plants and phytoplankton use to harness the Sun's
The world population is over six billion. We must burn fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) to keep all those people warm, to
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Ipcc) was created in 1988. The IPCC released its first assessment of the
by B. Stone
Today we are coming to terms with global warming and the ever-growing carbon footprint that humans are making on the environment.
View All Articles on:
Carbon sequestering: A critical issue to explore in the global warming debate
Add your voice
Know something about Carbon sequestering: A critical issue to explore in the global warming debate?
We want to hear your view.
Write now!
Cast your vote!
Click for your side.
Featured Partner
Tigerlily Foundation has partnered with Helium, giving you the chance to write for a cause. Browse Tigerlily Fou...more
hide