🚨What if rocks could trap CO₂ faster than nature ever does, at the atomic scale?

A recent study reveals how water can dramatically accelerate CO₂ mineralization on mineral surfaces, unlocking faster long-term #CarbonStorage.

Details🧵1/9 2/ For decades, scientists assumed CO₂ turns into stable carbonate rock through a slow, two-step process:

CO₂ dissolves in water → minerals dissolve → carbonates slowly form.

This made geological storage reliable, but extremely slow.

🚨Greenhouses can grow food in extreme climates, but they often depend on fossil-derived CO₂ inputs to maximize crop yields.

New study investigates whether Direct Air Capture (#DAC) could replace those emissions-intensive CO₂ sources by capturing C directly from air.🧵1/13 2/ Researchers modeled a 1-ha sealed high-tech greenhouse in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia producing cherry tomatoes & lettuce under hot-arid conditions.

The system maintained ~1000ppm CO₂ conc, which are required to sustain high crop productivity in climate-controlled desert agri.

🚨Monthly Solar Geoengineering Updates (April'2026)🚨

From EU calls for an #SRM deployment moratorium & WHO-linked health-centered governance report, to Stardust publishing its own SRM rules, key SRM headlines you need to know from past month:
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🧵0/12 …largeoengineeringupdates.substack.com/p/monthly-sola… Top 10 SRM Updates from April 2026

1️⃣ Stardust releases SRM “guiding principles”:

The private SRM company publishes voluntary rules and safety guidelines, but experts raise concerns over transparency, unknown aerosols, and private control of planetary-scale interventions.

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🚨Is direct air capture (#DAC) really worth the investment?

A new Nature Climate Change study shows that investing in wind & solar delivers 2-3× greater combined climate + health benefits than direct air capture across most U.S. regions, under the same budget.

Details🧵1/11 2/ DAC is often promoted as essential for net-zero, removing CO₂ directly from the atm. But most studies assess it in isolation, asking: “Does it work?”

This study asks a policy-relevant question:
“What are we giving up by funding DAC instead of alternatives?”

🚨What happens to tropical rainforests as CO₂ rises?

New research shows higher CO₂ boosts tree growth & C uptake by pushing roots to aggressively mine scarce phosphorus.

This strengthens the C sink now, but depletes nutrients, ultimately limiting long-term C storage.🧵1/11 2/ Scientists tested this in the Amazon by exposing forest patches to higher CO₂ (future-like conditions) and tracking how trees, roots, and soils responded over time.

🚨Green roofs + enhanced rock weathering (#ERW) could turn cities into carbon sinks.

A new assessment finds Europe’s rooftops could remove tens of millions of tonnes of CO₂ by 2060, with global potential reaching hundreds of MtCO₂/yr under ideal conditions.

Details🧵1/12 2/ The work is a conceptual, literature-based assessment combined with geochemical scaling.

It estimates CO₂ removal using theoretical maximum reactivity (100% mineral conversion) and extrapolates across urban roof availability in Europe and globally.

🚨A new study details that the climate value of algae & cyanobacteria lies not in CO₂ uptake alone, but in their capacity to generate long-lived, chemically recalcitrant C compounds, such as algaenan & carbonates that may contribute to durable sequestration pathways.

🧵1/11 2/ The study adopts a conceptual synthesis framework, integrating biochemical & geochemical evidence to examine carbon fate post-photosynthetic fixation, moving beyond uptake rates to study the thermodynamic and structural persistence of biogenic carbon.

🚨🗞️Monthly Solar Geoengineering Updates (March'26 Edition)🗞️🚨

From UN review of #SRM tech & its human rights impacts, to US organizations resisting SRM bans, plus new tools & research awards – SRM headlines you need to know from the past month:🧵1/13

🔗 …largeoengineeringupdates.substack.com/p/monthly-sola… 🚨Top 10 SRM Updates from March 2026:

1️⃣ @OHCHR_MENA seeks input on climate technologies - The UN Human Rights Office is collecting submissions on how SRM & CDR may impact human rights, with a report due later this year.

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🚨Direct air capture (#DAC) using amine-based sorbents is one of the "most promising ways" to remove CO₂, but a core challenge remains: the materials degrade over time, raising costs and limiting scale.

A new study examines why that happens and how to fix it.🧵1/12 2/ Degradation here means any chemical or physical change that reduces CO₂ uptake or increases energy needed for regeneration.

Over time, even small losses compound, turning a promising material into a costly bottleneck.

🚨New research from WashU shows that diamond dust, long proposed as an ideal solar geoengineering (#SRM) material for #SAI, may lose much of its cooling potential when real-world chemistry & manufacturing constraints are taken into account.

DETAILS🧵1/11 2/ Solar geoengineering, particularly stratospheric aerosol injection (#SAI), seeks to mimic volcanic cooling by dispersing reflective particles into the upper atmosphere, reducing incoming solar radiation and temporarily offsetting warming.

🚨Where should Direct Air Capture (#DAC) be deployed to scale carbon removal?

New research shows: costs are driven less by the technology itself and more by location, climate, and energy systems, making DAC a fundamentally geo-dependent solution.

Details🧵1/10 2/ DAC needs to scale to 0.5–5 GtCO₂/year by 2050, yet current capacity is ~0.00004 Gt.

Scaling requires massive cost reductions, and smart siting.

🚨Could massive volcanic events trigger natural carbon dioxide removal (#CDR)?

New study suggests that during the Emeishan supervolcanic eruptions (~260M yrs ago), enhanced weathering of uplifted rocks removed huge amounts of atm CO₂, cutting levels nearly in half.

How?🧵1/11 2/ Large igneous provinces (LIPs) are among the largest volcanic events in Earth’s history, typically releasing huge volumes of lava over 1-5 million years.

They’re widely thought to drive CO₂ spikes, warming, and environmental crises through massive volcanic degassing.

🚨How much does the shape of particles matter for #SolarGeoengineering?

A new study tests whether non-spherical particles could improve the cooling efficiency of #SAI.

The result: shape can help slightly, but particle size & refractive index dominate the cooling effect.🧵1/11 2/ SAI aims to cool Earth by injecting particles into the lower stratosphere that scatter incoming sunlight back to space, increasing planetary reflectivity (albedo).

The effectiveness of these particles depends on their optical properties, how they scatter and absorb sunlight.

🚨🗞️Monthly Solar Geoengineering Updates (February 2026 Edition)🗞️🚨

AMOC collapse alerts, Arctic intervention studies & new governance & funding initiatives - #SRM headlines you need to know from the past month:

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🚨Top 10 SRM Updates from Feb 2026: …largeoengineeringupdates.substack.com/p/monthly-sola… 1️⃣ Solar geoengineering governance platform - A new SGRG initiative will develop transparency tools, disclosure systems and a research governance charter as SRM studies expand.

🚨🐜Tiny fungus-farming ants have evolved the ability to capture carbon dioxide from air (#CDR) and convert it into a mineral layer on their bodies, forming a natural protective armour, a surprising biological mechanism reported by scientists in a new study.

Details🧵1/11 2/ The discovery comes from studying crowded ant nests where carbon dioxide can build up.

Instead of simply tolerating high CO₂, these ants appear to use the gas as a chemical resource inside their nest environment.

🚨🗓️Solar Geoengineering Events Calendar Update

From Oxford lectures & London policy debates to GeoMIP in Tokyo, #SRM governance forums in Belgium & major gatherings across Vienna, US & beyond + key job & abstract deadlines. Here’s what’s coming up🧵1/22

teamup.com/ks64mmvtit583e… 2/ Add our SRM Events Calendar to your default calendar in 2 ways:

Head to this link:

And follow these steps: teamup.com/ks64mmvtit583e…

🚨A new study finds that most enhanced weathering models overestimate CO₂ removal (#CDR) because they assume all added rock powder reacts, when in reality, soil structure & moisture mean much of the mineral surface never gets wet, cutting reaction rates by up to 97%.

🧵1/12 2/ Enhanced weathering (EW) works by spreading finely ground silicate rocks onto soils. When these minerals react with water and CO₂, they form bicarbonate, effectively removing carbon from the atmosphere.

But here’s the catch: no water contact, no reaction.

🚨Should SRM Be Seen as a Serious Security Issue?

Four experts offer their thoughts on the potential security risks associated with sunlight reflection methods (#SRM), or solar geoengineering, highlighting the geopolitical complexity of the field.

Read here:🧵1/6 Burgess Langshaw Power argues climate change is now a security issue and SRM could be too, but warns against military control to avoid secrecy or an arms race.

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🚨A new study in Communications Sustainability explores whether enhanced rock weathering (#ERW) can scale into a meaningful, equitable climate solution.

The headline: ERW could remove ~1GtCO₂/yr by 2100, but who deploys it, when & how fast will shape its global impact.🧵1/10 2/ Enhanced rock weathering works by spreading crushed silicate rocks on croplands.

These minerals chemically react with CO₂, locking carbon into stable forms while improving soil quality. It’s a rare intervention promising both climate mitigation and agricultural co-benefits.

🚨New study finds #biochar made from bioenergy crops & residues in China could remove up to 1.88 GtCO₂/yr with optimized plant logistics and dedicated biomass.

At ~$10/tCO₂, far cheaper than #BECCS, it offers a scalable, cost-effective carbon removal (#CDR) pathway.

🧵1/13 2/ Biochar, a carbon-rich solid produced by pyrolysis of biomass, locks carbon into soils for decades to centuries while improving soil quality and crop yields.

Its stability makes it a promising negative emissions technology (NET) relied on in climate scenarios.

🚨🗞️Monthly #SolarGeoengineering Updates (Jan 2026)🗞️🚨

From U.S. withdrawal from global climate bodies & anti-geoengineering bills, to SAI uncertainty tool, Arctic field trials & funding calls, SRM stayed at the nexus of sci & geopolitics.

Top 10 SRM Highlights (Jan'26)🧵1/11 1️⃣ 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗖𝗖𝗖 & 𝗜𝗣𝗖𝗖 - Experts warn withdrawal could weaken SRM governance, deepen geopolitical mistrust, and accelerate fragmented or unilateral approaches.

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