Dr. David E. Comings, a respected geneticist and founder of The Comings Foundation, is issuing a stark warning to U.S. leaders that the world is nearing an environmental point of no return. In his recent book, If I Were a Billionaire, These are Four Things I Would do to Combat Global Warming and Help Save the Planet. In The Science of Global Warming, he outlines urgent scientific findings demonstrating that climate change will become progressively worse and more deadly without intervention.
Two major scientific measurements drive Dr. Comings' concerns. First, atmospheric CO2 has increased from 320 parts per million in 1967 to 420 ppm currently, with the rate of increase accelerating from 1.0 ppm per year in 1967 to 2.8 ppm per year in 2023. Second, the Earth's heat imbalance—the ratio of solar heat retained versus reflected—is now equivalent to 432,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs exploding in the ocean daily. This imbalance, driven by greenhouse gases and loss of albedo from melting ice, heats the ocean, causing it to release stored CO2 and creating a deadly feedback loop that can only be stopped by removing atmospheric CO2.
Dr. Comings directs his call to action at the Trump administration and Congress, urging them to rise above partisan gridlock. "What's needed now is aggressive, immediate intervention—and that means removing CO₂ from the atmosphere on a scale we've never attempted before," he explains. He proposes four science-driven, scalable strategies: repairing the Earth's lost albedo to decrease heat imbalance; using hundreds of catamarans equipped with technology to remove and sequester ocean CO2 and combat acidification; deploying enhanced weathering with minerals like olivine, spread by inexpensive drones to allow citizen participation; and using updated adsorbents to remove atmospheric CO2 for safe storage in basalt formations through in situ sequestration, which has global capacity for trillions of tons.
"We already possess the technologies. What we lack is the political will to prioritize saving the planet," says Dr. Comings. He plans to send his report to every member of Congress and the White House, arguing that climate leadership must transcend political ideology. He recommends creating a National Climate Restoration Office, increasing funding for carbon dioxide removal pilot projects, and securing bipartisan legislative commitment to carbon removal as a complement to emissions reduction. Explore the foundation's initiatives at https://www.TheComingsFoundation.org.
Dr. Comings, known for genetics research, applies decades of systems study to climate change. "Just like in medicine, prevention is more effective than treatment—but we've passed the stage of prevention. Now, it's time to reverse the damage, boldly and intelligently," he says. He asserts that the current administration has a unique opportunity to lead a global restoration effort, pairing conservative leadership with cutting-edge environmental action to secure future generations. "We are not helpless, and we are not too late. But we must stop waiting for consensus and start executing solutions," he concludes.
