Despite what science tells us about climate change, the world continues to pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Last year, increases in emissions from rapidly growing economies like China and India offset reductions that richer countries have made. In short, the picture looks grim.

Some scientists think it’s best not to wait for an international climate treaty with teeth to come along. Instead, they’ve come up with a novel way to stave off the effects of excess carbon: by putting it in the deep sea.

It’s a process known as ocean carbon sequestration. Writer Peter Friederici joins us to explain what that means and why, in a recent article for the science magazine Miller-McCune, he calls it the world’s “best bad idea.”