Good morning. We're covering ambitious projects that are trying to engineer the atmosphere — as well as protests in Israel, Donald Trump's rallies and the peace sign.
Engineering change
Infusing clouds with sulfur dioxide to block the sun. Vacuuming carbon dioxide out of thin air. Adding iron to the ocean to draw greenhouse gases down to the sea floor. As recently as a few years ago, technologies designed to change Earth's atmosphere — what is broadly known as geoengineering — were considered too impractical, too expensive and too outlandish to be taken seriously. But, as I write in a new article, some of these technologies are being deployed. One is already in place. The effects of climate change are becoming worse. And nations aren't meeting their collective goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions. The stakes are very real: Last year was the hottest in modern history. Oceans around the world are shockingly warm. Floods, fires and droughts are growing more intense. So investors and entrepreneurs are trying — sometimes unilaterally — to fix that. In today's newsletter, I'll explain some of those efforts. Many scientists and environmentalists worry about the safety and efficacy of geoengineering. And some of the best-funded projects are bankrolled by the very oil and gas companies most responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions. Still, plans to intentionally tinker with the planet's atmosphere are racing ahead. Underground bubblesOn a warm winter day last month, I traveled to a massive construction site outside Odessa, Texas. There, Occidental Petroleum is building the world's largest direct air-capture plant. The company plans to turn it on next year. The mechanics are relatively straightforward: Giant fans blow air across water that has been treated to absorb carbon dioxide. Occidental then uses chemicals to isolate that CO2, mixes the gas with water and pumps it underground. Extreme subterranean pressure keeps the gas locked away forever.
Occidental told me that most of the carbon dioxide it captures will be sequestered in bedrock, removed from the atmosphere for good. But at least some will be used to extract yet more oil from the ground, creating more of the greenhouse gases that are dangerously heating the planet. Earlier this year, I toured a similar factory in Iceland. That one, built by a Swiss company called Climeworks, doesn't sell any of its CO2 to oil companies. Other attempts to tweak the climate are still in their infancy. A California start-up claimed to have released sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere in Mexico without permission, hoping to block solar radiation. (Afterward, Mexico imposed a ban on the process.) Researchers in Massachusetts are investigating whether they could generate blooms of phytoplankton that would absorb carbon dioxide and settle on the sea floor. Who has the power?Critics of the air-capture plants like those in Texas and Iceland remain skeptical. The projects are enormously expensive and very energy-intensive and snag only a sliver of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Maybe they distract policymakers from the more urgent work of reducing fossil fuel emissions. Despite these concerns, the market for these ventures is set to boom — from less than $10 billion today to as much as $135 billion by 2040, according to Boston Consulting Group. Occidental is planning to build 100 plants in the coming years, funded in part by $1.2 billion in funding for the technology from the Biden administration. Climeworks wants to build in Kenya, Canada, Europe and Louisiana. It's not unusual for a new technology to gain momentum before the major questions about its efficacy, safety and regulation are resolved. Who deserves the right to alter the planet, and what burdens of proof should they first meet? Right now, there are no international standards governing these new technologies, even though they could affect the whole planet. As one professor of environmental philosophy told me, "We don't have a great track record of sustained global cooperation." For more: Read David's reporting in Iceland, where carbon capture is a small but growing business.
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Opinions The U.S. should work with its adversaries on counterterrorism to prevent attacks like the one in Moscow, Christopher Costa and Colin Clarke write. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss nominees for their political April fools. Here are columns by David French on the rise of religious identity politics and Zeynep Tufekci on Boeing airplane safety. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today.
Writings on the wall: Landlords used to scrub graffiti off their buildings. Now, they are willing to pay for it. Ask Vanessa: Can you wear sandals in the office? Hiking: The app AllTrails has become a beloved guide for both experts and newbies. Metropolitan Diary: Worst job interview ever? Lives Lived: Lorraine Graves was a ballerina who starred as a principal dancer for the groundbreaking Dance Theater of Harlem for nearly two decades. She died at 66.
Men's Final Four: The lineup is set. Alabama will play UConn and Purdue will take on N.C. State. Elite Eight recap: Purdue beat Tennessee, 72-66, to advance to its first Final Four since 1980. And N.C. State beat Duke, 76-64, to tie a record as the lowest seed to reach the Final Four. Women's college basketball: South Carolina is headed to its fourth consecutive Final Four after beating Oregon State, 70-58. More games are tonight, including Iowa v.s L.S.U.
Meaning: The peace sign, which was designed in the 1950s, was once a powerful symbol for antiwar and countercultural movements. Now, for younger generations, the sign is little more than an anodyne lifestyle motif. "I take one look at the peace sign, and it feels really dated and meaningless," a 22-year-old college junior told Michael Rock, a designer and academic. "It reminds me of being in elementary school, and this was on everybody's water bottles or T-shirts." Read more about how the sign's resonance has changed. More on culture
Make an easy deli-style egg salad with any leftover hard-boiled eggs. Work with your hands. It's good for your brain. Start composting. Break up with single-use plastics. Take our news quiz.
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2024/04/01
The Morning: The new climate tech
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