Scrubbing systems and methods for removing carbon dioxide from a gas are provided. The scrubbing system can include a scrubber defining a vertically oriented tubing assembly, a gas inlet and a gas outlet. The tubing assembly has a tank section, a reduced diameter section, and an expansion section such that the expansion section is positioned above the reduced diameter section and the reduced diameter section is positioned above the tank section. An aqueous liquid-phase scrubbing media is contained within the tank section. The scrubbing system can further include a water bath configured to receive the CO2-free gas exiting the scrubber.