Adding limestone to farmland boosts carbon capture and crop yields, study finds
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Adding crushed calcium carbonate—limestone—to agricultural fields can remove tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year while improving crop yields, a Yale-led study published in Nature Water found.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit a record high in 2024 reaching over 420 parts per million. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified carbon removal as one key tool in limiting warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels to help mitigate climate change. To reach that target, 15 billion tons of carbon would have to be removed from the atmosphere each year.
"There is growing scientific consensus that removing carbon from the atmosphere is necessary to hit carbon goals. At this point, halting emissions won't be enough," Peter Raymond, the Oastler Professor of Biogeochemistry at the Yale School of the Environment and co-director of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC), said.
