About Peter Wadhams

A farewell to ice

September 2017 has smashed multiple climate records, being the hottest September ever recorded in the past 137 years of modern record-tracking. Despite many counterstatements on the human influences on global warming, its life threatening effects can no longer be challenged. The Arctic ice is rapidly retreating, and trends are indicating that soon we will face ice-free central arctics in the summer. Due to the ever-increasing carbon emission collecting at the atmosphere, the latter is regrettable just a fraction of this calamitous puzzle. The growing heat is causing the Siberian permafrost to melt, additionally releasing large quantities of methane gas into the atmosphere that reinforce the global warming effect. According to Prof. dr. Peter Wadhams at the University of Cambridge, author of A Farewell to Ice, innovative technologies are becoming increasingly relevant to shun this apocalypse timely. As humans remain incapable of changing their habits and practices as has been evidenced by our intensely developing society of the past decades, breaching this vicious cycle and achieving the 2°C climate goal of the Paris Agreement requires a true moonshot approach. Except is assistance from technology truly imperative to save our planet? And if so, how far are we from a breakthrough in climate-saving technologies? On the stage of TEDxUHasselt 2018, Peter will answer these questions and emphasise on the vast potential of geo-engineering and Direct Air Capturing—approaches he considers necessary at this stage to sustain our planet and the survival of our species.