THE CO2 PROBLEM

The CO2 Problem
Today, concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide far exceed the natural range over the last 650,000 years and it is expected to at least double over the next century. A 30% increase has occurred in the last 200 years, which has been primarily attributed to worldwide use of the fossil fuels. Natural processes responsible of CO2 regulation are not enough to absorb the excess of this greenhouse gas. The recent IPCC report states that warming of the climate system is unequivocal and scientists point out numerous long-term changes which may have dramatic environmental and socio-economic consequences.
The best solution to control this increase of carbon dioxide would be to dramatically cut fossil fuel use and strongly reduce our CO2 emissions. However, this challenge raised by the Kyoto protocol seems today hardly attainable in the short term. In the meantime it becomes almost unavoidable to consider alternatives options, such as developing technologies allowing the capture and storage of atmospheric CO2.
The world’s oceans cover 75% of the Planet’s surface and play a key role in moderating the climate. They naturally take up about one-third of our CO2 emissions, and with an average depth of 3800 m, it also offers a potentially huge storage capacity.

From ScienceDaily(June 10,2007)