The gap between today's carbon capture and what is needed is staggeringly large. Direct air capture worldwide removes only about 10,000 tons of CO2 a year. Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees may require removing billions of tons annually by mid-century — a scale-up of roughly one hundred thousand times.

That does not make the technology futile. Solar power was once prohibitively expensive before manufacturing drove costs down sharply. Direct air capture now costs about $400 to $1,000 per ton, and industry roadmaps project under $100 within fifteen years as plants scale up and run on cheap renewables.