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David Ho

Men will do anything to keep using fossil fuels.

This paper proposes to use nuclear bombs to blow up the seafloor to increase alkalinity and take up atmospheric CO₂. What could go wrong? 🤷🏻‍♂️

h/t @climatejesper

arxiv.org/pdf/2501.06623

Confronting the escalating threat of climate change requires innovative and large-scale inter-ventions. This paper presents a bold proposal to employ a buried nuclear explosion in a remote basaltic seabed for pulverizing basalt, thereby accelerating carbon sequestration through Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW). By precisely locating the explosion beneath the seabed, we aim to confine debris, radiation, and energy while ensuring rapid rock weathering at a scale substantial enough to make a meaningful dent in atmospheric carbon levels. Our analysis outlines the parameters essential for efficient carbon capture and minimal collateral effects, emphasizing that a yield on the order of gigatons is critical for global climate impact. Although this approach may appear radical, we illustrate its feasibility by examining safety factors, preservation of local ecosystems, political considerations, and financial viability. This work argues for reimagining nuclear technology not merely as a destructive force but as a potential catalyst for decarboniza-tion, thereby inviting further exploration of pioneering solutions in the fight against climate change.
Imbolc

@davidho @climatejesper

I'm not against carbon sequestration, so I read the paper out of curiosity

But it's totally crazy. I even checked to see if paper's publication date was April 1

"a nuclear explosion yield of 81 Gt is required. This is orders of magnitude larger than the largest
nuclear explosion ever detonated, so this is not to be taken lightly."

"This section makes
these assumptions about the nuclear device:
1. This explosion can be detonated without global catastrophe"

Jan 18, 2025, 05:37 AM·Public
3boosts·6favorites
Quiet public
Martin Rust

@eob
#DrStrangelove never dies. What about employing 81 Gt to shift earth's orbit around the sun outwards by a million kilometers to reduce solar radiation incidence? Just sarcasm.
@davidho @climatejesper

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