The Climate is Breaking Down. Architect Bjarke Ingels Has a Masterplan for That

Bjarke Ingels can sometimes sound like a mad scientist. “One thing I’ve learned a lot about over the past year is stone flour,” the 46-year-old Danish architect says over Zoom from his couch in Copenhagen. A mischievous smile spreads over Ingels’ tanned, boyish face as he explains: during the last ice age, glaciers ground rocks down into a fine, nutrient-rich substance, which stimulated flora and fauna in some parts of the world. Geologists are now investigating stone flour’s ability to bring life to infertile areas. “So say that in each container ship that sails across the oceans, you reserve four containers, fill them with stone flour and inject some when you cross a marine desert,” he says. As plants grow, they would draw down carbon from the atmosphere, reducing the greenhouse effect. “Then you can turn on the carbon-sucking capacity of the oceans.”