Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We evaluated the mitigation of global warming from an entirely new perspective. Assuming that CO2 emissions constitute the bulk of the global warming phenomenon, we asked if irreversible complexation of CO2 with another gas before emission would shift and/or abrogate its λmax from/at 15 μm and/or decrease its diffusion coefficient or effective translational velocity enough so as to decrease its absorption of Outbound Long wave Radiation (OLR) or decrease the collision rate with OLR photons respectively. We replicated the Planck’s law derived spectrum of the Earth’s thermal blackbody OLR log-normal curve and conservatively calculated the CO2-complex contributed decrease in Earth originated spectral irradiance at 13 µm and 17 μm; when compared with that at 15 µm. We also simulated, quantified and investigated the decrease in the CO2-complex diffusion coefficient by coding and running a ‘Space Invaders’ type video game; reminiscent of its analogous namesake in the 70s’. In both instances, there was a decrease in the amount of re-radiated radiation back to earth. In the case of the complexation mechanism, a conservative shift of ± 2 µm, was calculated to result in a decrease of 0.4 oC in the average global temperature. In the case of the diffusion coefficient mediated mechanism, we found that a decrease of > 2X in the CO2-complex diffusion coefficient – when extrapolated to a real-world speed ratio of 106:1 for the OLR photons to the speed of CO2 molecules - could result in a 0.2 oC reduction in average global temperature. This decreased contribution of the diffusion mediated mechanism was exacerbated by the Graham’s Law necessity of increasing the mass of the CO2 molecule 4X by complexation with a permissive Lewis acid-Lewis base host gas, although our mathematically plausible calculations extrapolated at a speed ratio of 106:1 were conceptually heuristic. The complexation mechanism; in contrast; did not require any minimum weight increase. Although we anticipate significant hurdles toward implementation, we believe we are the first to conceptualize this idea. If OLR absorption is reduced or abrogated by the CO2-complex, there will no longer be a need to reduce (complexed) CO2 emissions. The transition to greener energy sources may not be as urgent. Research is needed to find/repurpose non-toxic gases that do not contribute to greenhouse warming and which can irreversibly complex with CO2, preferably under ambient conditions, so that CO2 in the industrial chimney flues and automobile exhaust pipes; among others; may be mixed (and complexed) with the host gas before emission into the atmosphere.
Source: Journal of High School Science
DOI: 10.64336/001c.132051
Authors: Gupil Mayari, Bageerathan Saravanakumar, Shireesh Apte
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W6958810718
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