Rocks Could Help US Bury Global Warming

Could the high-tech solution to global warming be… rock formations? Geologists have identified roughly 6,000 square miles of large formations in the US that could be used to store excess carbon dioxide, LiveScience reports. Ultramafic rocks, which originate deep beneath the earth, convert carbon dioxide into hard minerals. Typically this process is extremely slow, but scientists have devised methods to speed it up.

“It offers a way to permanently get rid of carbon-dioxide emissions,” said one scientist working on the issue. The report mapping the US’ ultramafic rocks is “a really big step forward,” said one of the researchers who originated the mineral sequestration idea. He’s hoping for a similar global mapping effort to find more storage areas. (More carbon dioxide stories.)