The Most Incredible Science Events Of 2016

Scientists Convert Carbon Dioxide Into Stone

While most countries have signed the Paris Climate Agreement and have promised to curb their carbon emissions, finding a clean and eco-friendly way of storing or converting atmospheric carbon has remained a top challenge in the fight to curb or reverse the effects of climate change. In 2016, a team of Icelandic scientists might have solved this enigma by developing and successfully testing a method of converting gaseous carbon dioxide into rock. Carbon dioxide is pumped deep underground into layers of volcanic bedrock, and a chemical reaction makes the carbon dioxide react to form a benign mineral layer. Further testing is needed, but the development is already being hailed as an environmental game changer.