I adore the seashore. I’m born with it. I spent years inhaling in the briny sea air and swimming in gorgeous blue waters while growing up off the coast of Spain. Those same oceans aren’t as idyllic now, though. Like many of my fellow Californians, I’m concerned about the status of our oceans and the earth for future generations due to rising temperatures, increased acidity, and the widespread extinction of aquatic ecosystems.
Can Our Oceans Keep Fighting Climate Change?
However, as a climate scientist, I have cause for oceans optimism. I am hopeful that we have a realistic chance to lessen the worst effects of climate change before it’s too late for the first time in a very long time. Why? due to the waters’ undiscovered powers. Our seas have been severely impacted by climate change for the past 200 years, yet they still have a vital function in the planet’s natural carbon cycle.
Many people are unaware that the seas store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for thousands of years when they absorb a sizable amount of it. This is accomplished by a number of mechanisms, one of which is the dissolution and weathering of minerals from rocks into the water, which temporarily lowers the acidity of the ocean and enables the sea to absorb more carbon dioxide naturally.
There is already 50 times more carbon dioxide stored securely in the ocean than there is in the atmosphere, demonstrating how effective the process is.
Scientists studying climate change have recently started looking into ways to enhance this organic process so that the ocean can collect and hold onto more carbon dioxide over time. Researchers worldwide, including those in my group at UC Santa Barbara, have concentrated on a particular strategy called ocean alkalinity enhancement, or OAE, that has the ability to achieve this.
The natural geologic cycle is accelerated by the OAE process. Scholars are exploring various approaches for OAE, including as introducing finely powdered alkaline rock into the water or inducing chemical processes that replicate the natural phenomenon.
I worked on a group that in 2022 wrote a historic research plan for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on ocean-based climate solutions like OAE. We discovered that OAE has great potential as a scalable, economical, and efficient method of cleaning up carbon dioxide pollution, but much more investigation and testing are required.
Nonprofits and philanthropies have provided funding for a large portion of the research that has been conducted thus far. For example, the largest nonprofit to advance OAE, Carbon to Sea, has financed essential research being conducted in labs around the world, including mine.
Fortunately, the federal government of the United States is starting to take action right now. A month after announcing a prize of up to $35 million for improved oceans weathering and mineralization techniques, the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management announced a separate $36 million programme to expedite the development of marine carbon dioxide removal.
Global interest in OAE is also growing. There were more panels and discussion sessions addressing ocean-based climate solutions in December at COP28, the largest climate gathering in the world, than at any previous conference. One of these featured U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland, is the Foreign Relations Committee chair. Speaking with numerous scientists, officials, and specialists there, there was genuine enthusiasm regarding what we can do to expedite global progress.
California has additional significant influence. It makes sense for a state that leads the world in reducing carbon emissions and is renowned for being a centre of innovation and fresh thinking to take the lead in creating ocean-based climate solutions.
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To assist progress research in the subject, the scientific community—including researchers in my lab and other California universities—is looking to legislators and regulators in our state and the rest of the West Coast for leadership. While the federal government’s recent expenditures are a wonderful place to start, much more is needed for this kind of study. More than $1 billion will be needed over the next ten years to support research needs like field demonstrations, tracking sequestered carbon dioxide, and assessing environmental implications if scientists are to make any significant progress.
I was always apprehensive about meddling in the ocean’s natural processes. However, I came to understand that it is our duty to repair the immense harm we have caused to the ocean. I think we have a great opportunity to use those natural processes to repair the ocean and combat climate change with ocean-based climate solutions like OAE.
To be sure, there is still more work to be done to prevent the worst effects of climate change, and I do not wish to minimise the dangers that we face. However, we won’t get there unless we think that improvement is feasible. Our state may set the example, and the ocean may prove to be our greatest ally.