Tuesday September 10, 2024
PhysOrg —
While the urgent reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions is needed as the primary activity to curb climate change, there is broad agreement for the need to remove CO2 already in the atmosphere. Given its outsized role in CO2 storage, the ocean can’t be ignored for its potential for marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) to help improve our stressed climate system.
Several of the world’s leading scientific bodies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, identified ocean iron fertilization (OIF) as an emerging climate solution, and more than 400 scientists signed onto a letter calling for expanded mCDR research.
Governments around the world have invested tens of millions of dollars to advance ocean-climate solutions, signaling to the public sector, philanthropy, and academia the need to explore the role of the ocean in mitigating the effects of climate change.