At the CO₂ Abyss : : : Digital Art

Flammarions Wood Engraving
The French astronomer Flammarion (1842-1925) held the opinion that life was also possible on other planets. He was particularly interested in Mars. In his 1888 published volume “L’Atmosphère. Météorologie populaire”, he depics the picture of an unknown artist, which became famous as “Flammarion’s wood engraving” ¹. It shows a kneeling hiker who, having reached the horizon, sticks his head through the earth’s mantle and sees the cosmos behind it.

Hot Time
For the greenhouse gases water vapour, methane and ozone we can consider ourselves lucky. Together with carbon dioxide, they absorb and store the sun’s heat radiation. Without this effect, the average temperature on the earth’s surface would be at a hostile –18° Celsius (–0.4° F) ². Before industrialisation, however, there were only about 280 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In 2018 over 407 parts were measured. The total mass of CO₂ in the earth’s atmosphere is estimated at 3,307 gigatons (3,306,930,000,000 tn. sh.) ³. Within a tolerance range, fluctuations were and are completely normal. We have far exceeded this range and endanger the unique ecological niche of life in the universe known to us.

Science, Power, Impotence
The deeper we put our heads into new hemispheres, the more complicated it becomes. How do we reduce global CO₂ emissions? What impact will climate change have? How do we secure the harvests to feed humanity when temperatures rise? How do we reduce water shortages, sea level rise, mass migrations and wars due to the expansion of deserts? How can we improve simulations for more reliable planning?

The P-NP Problem
In a letter to John von Neumann, one of the pioneers of computer science, Kurt Gödel formulated the P-NP problem ⁴, which is still unsolved today, as early as 1956. It is about algorithmic complexity within theoretical computer science. If the theory were confirmed, complicated climate simulations would be calculable in the shortest possible time. If we had answers to mathematical millennium problems ^{5, 6} or to questions in complex key disciplines, the higher scientific input could pay off in the long run in the form of saved suffering for millions, if not billions of people!

Escape to Mars?
The atmosphere of Mars consists of almost 96 percent carbon dioxide, and the polar caps consist mainly of carbon dioxide dry ice. The ‘air’ contains only 0.146 percent oxygen, and the low atmospheric pressure is equivalent to that of earth at an altitude of 35 kilometres (21,75 miles). At night, temperatures drop to as low as –85° Celsius (–121 °F). Due to extreme temperature differences between day and night, dust storms race over the ground at almost 400 km/h (249 mph). The magnetic field offers hardly any protection against high-energy solar particles ⁷. One drop of water does not remain liquid for more than a few hours ⁸. Despite these hostile conditions, the surface of Mars is better mapped than our deep sea ⁹. The USA, the People’s Republic of China, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Russia and Europe are pumping huge investments into the exploration of Mars. Elon Musk wants to settle one million people on Mars with Space X by 2050 ¹⁰, the United Arab Emirates wants to fly in the first humans by 2037 and found a human colony on the red planet by 2117 ¹¹. The race in space is in full swing again. However, to this day we are not able to grow even a blade of grass on the surface of Mars. Aren’t the Mars missions more prestige trips and power games of nations than realistic goals for a settlement? Shouldn’t we solve the pressing problems at home first?

The Recurring Desire for the End of the World
Do we really want to leave our unique paradise? Why don’t we invest the billions and all our strength in the search for new forms of energy, in the production of drinking water, in reforestation and environmental protection, instead of building a new Noah’s Ark. “After me, the Flood” dystopias will not give our civilization an escape into space. Why do we still not appreciate what we have with our earth?

CO₂ – Raw Material of the Future?
Carbon dioxide is an incombustible, acidic and colourless gas, which consists of two elements we desire: carbon and oxygen. We breathe it in and breathe it out even more. Plants, algae and bacteria can convert CO₂ into biomass. During photosynthesis, together with water, valuable glucose and oxygen are produced. Carbon dioxide is a raw material for biomass. Together with other elements you can produce useful things like narcotics, fertilizer or carbohydrates – in other words turn it into food! ¹². What if, with the necessary knowledge, we could turn the climate-damaging CO₂ into usable raw materials? We should quickly create the prerequisites for a massive knowledge push. We should study more, try more, think and explore more, and change our consumption habits. If the predictions of many serious scientists are correct (and who can we believe if not science?), we will not have much time left to leave the earth worth living on.

Knowledge versus Money
Where heaven and earth touch each other, the search for truth did not stop in ancient times. Science is constantly reaching its limits. Crossing current knowledge horizons and describing new limits are its distinguishing mark. With the invention of the steam engine, the industrial consumption of coal began. Oil drove the assembly lines for the production of war machines, automobiles and luxury articles ever faster and made the chimneys smoke. The bill for the short-sighted combustion of fossil fuels is only just being presented to us. We won’t be able to pay it in our lifetime.

Apathy or Enlightenment?
Why shouldn’t the human mind also find new ways to convert carbon dioxide? Why should we not be able to find ingenious forms of energy production, environmentally friendly or even symbiotic forms of production, meaningful and satisfying forms of consumption? To come to our senses seems to be the biggest hurdle.

Tristesse in the Garden of Eden
The Icelandic glacier ‘Okjökull’ no longer exists. In the dreary scree on which it once sat majestically, there is now a copper plate with a ‘Letter to the Future’ by Andri Snær Magnason: “Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it ¹³.” In the universe matter does not get lost, it changes into other states. Whether we will vegetate in stone deserts under barbaric conditions or live on in green oases of civilizations is not important for nature. It has never needed us.

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