‘Trash Collectors' of the Air: The Tool That Could Help Save the Planet UCSD researcher Ryan Hanna explains how the Direct Air Capture systems works and what the world must do to face a growing climate crisis By Tom Jones • Updated 2 hours ago NBC Universal, Inc. In the global fight pinning the world’s population against rising temperatures and natural disasters brought on by a climate crisis, carbon is the main opponent. Researchers are racing to find ways to not only reduce new carbon emissions into our atmosphere but also to scrub away carbon that’s already in our air.