There is growing concern about the potential worldwide environmental impacts from the vast amounts of carbon dioxide that are released from the combustion of fossil fuels.
Possible impacts range from global warming to acidification of the ocean.
Unless action is taken, future carbon dioxide emissions will dwarf those to date. Los Alamos National Laboratory leads a number of scientific efforts to isolate and dispose of carbon dioxide before it ever reaches the air, and also to directly remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The stability of the world's economy depends on abundant energy. For economic reasons, the energy supply has been, and in all likelihood will continue to be, dominated by fossil fuels, which are still plentiful. Limiting energy use to curtail carbon dioxide emissions would stifle economies and leave the majority of the world impoverished, as energy use is the enabling agent for wealth.