This is part of our five-episode pack on how science and technology can fight climate change. With better air conditioning, more whale poop, souped-up plants, and a giant vacuum. If all else fails, planet B. With David Biello, science curator at TED, author of The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth’s Newest Age, and contributing editor at Scientific American.

Humans produce a lot of CO2. When we burn coal, drive a car, take a plane. When we breathe, except we can’t help that. Unfortunately, carbon emissions are what’s heating up the planet - shooting out of our tailpipes and smoke stacks into the atmosphere.

This week, tackling those emissions with a giant vacuum, taking the CO2 and sticking it underground. Which sounds suspiciously like that classic teenage slob move - shove your mess into the closet, deal with it later. Luckily, underground turns out to be a pretty big place. Bigger than our New York City closets, at least.