Scientists debate best farming methods to reduce effects of climate change 

By Seth Millstein for Sentient.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Ohio News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service CollaborationIn an unexpected but no-less-depressing development, NASA has announced that 2024 was the hottest year on record. This wasn’t an anomaly, as every one of the past 10 years has been one of the 10 hottest years in the planet’s history. Climate change is a serious problem in need of a serious solution — but what counts as a viable climate solution, and what doesn’t?It’s not an easy question to answer. In fact, you might even say it doesn’t have an answer, at least not a single one. While there is certainly widespread agreement about the need to decarbonize, there is also an ongoing debate among climate scientists about which solutions to prioritize and when. That debate is important, as there’s no single “silver bullet” for bringing down global temperatures, so we have to have these difficult conversations.“This is pretty hard, right?,” University of Hawaii Oceanography Professor David Ho tells Sentient. “If we’re talking about carbon dioxide removal, basically, you’re talking about the largest thing that humanity has ever done.”This illustrates the enormity of the task at hand. It’s the “largest thing humanity has ever done” — and Ho isn’t even talking about reducing our emissions across the board. He’s merely talking about carbon dioxide removal, which as we’ll see, is just one element.Although there’s disagreement around how best to fight climate change, the contours of these disagreements are illuminating, because they’re often about deeper divides and tough decisions.Climate Solutions, DefinedFirst, let’s talk about basic definitions. When we talk about climate change, we’re usually talking about rising global temperatures. Greenhouse gases — primarily carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — are the main reason temperatures are rising. That’s why Amanda Smith, senior scientist at the climate organization Project Drawdown, argued in a 2024 webinar that any climate change solution must, by definition, reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This can be accomplished in two ways: by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide we emit in the first place, and by trapping and storing carbon dioxide that’s already been emitted. The first approach is commonly referred to as decarbonization, while the second is known as either carbon capture or carbon removal, depending on the method used.How to Prioritize the Best Climate SolutionsHere’s where things get trickier. Although many burgeoning climate technologies and innovations have potential, Smith argues that only the ones that can effectively be deployed now can truly be considered solutions. High costs, logistical burdens, legal hurdles and other obstacles mean that many potential solutions aren’t yet ready for prime time.Smith also argues that a climate soluti