The key to storing carbon emissions could be found in the oceans and their largest inhabitants

While global governments have agreed to work towards limiting global temperature increase to 1.5°C, little in their behaviour suggests they are taking the challenge seriously, as emissions continue to rise year after year. The most recent Climate analysis report by the IPCC, published on April 4, warns that this pattern is set to continue – with a projected global rise of 3.2°C or more by 2100 – if emissions aren’t drastically reduced and excess CO₂ removed from the atmosphere.

It’s time to turn to our oceans for help, an approach consistent with the IPCC’s climate objectives, yet which remains relatively overlooked. Current research at the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University tackles how we can reinvigorate the world’s largest potential carbon sinks, which cover More than 70% of our planet’s surface, and have already been working to remove CO₂ from our atmosphere for millions of years.

Only 1.3°CThe world is struggling to cope with a rise in pre-industrial levels. The planet is being battered by unprecedented droughts, wildfires, floods, storms, and heatwaves. SwissRe, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, has estimated that natural disasters cost the world US$190 billion (£146 billion) in 2020.

Each temperature increase brings with it more unpredictable conditions. By 2050, coastal cities like Jakarta and Kolkata could be unliveableDue to rising sea levels, causing flooding and storm surges.

Continue reading:
The ocean is crucial to tackling climate change. Why has the ocean been overlooked in global climate negotiations?

The IPCC report demonstrates that reducing the use of fossil fuels must be a priority. Importantto reduce emissions. Technical innovations to help us make this transition – alongside wind, solar and tidal power – include using methane from landfill sites to Heat buildings(Something that has been successfully implemented in Sweden) and building clean mass transportation systems that free up pavements and public spaces (as demonstrated in Bogota). Wealthy nations must step up to make these changes, at the same time funding poorer nations’ plans to sidestep fossil fuel reliance.

Although this is clearly a necessary course of action, politics, policy, and governments are still slow to respond. They are not able to align their efforts with the urgency and scale of solutions required.

Capturing carbon

An equally key part of bringing CO₂ levels down is putting atmospheric carbon back where it came from. Carbon capture and storage technology is a vital tool in sectors where CO₂ emissions are essentially unavoidable, such as in heavy industrial processes like steel works. Its high costs and high energy consumption make it expensive. It is imperfect solution.

Use natureMore promising is the possibility of storing carbon on a large scale. The IPCC report believes in the farming industryDramatic changes to help are possible by rolling out seperatorOver the next decade, there will be more carbon in soil. Yet although methods of doing this have been successfully trialled across the world, policy hasn’t caught up, and Vested interestsInertia is also a result of current farming methods.

Extensive Tree plantingThere are also opportunities to increase carbon sinks through peatland preservation and mangrove reforestation. Rewilding. But using land alone won’t be enough to sufficiently reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. This is where the oceans come in.

Storing carbon from the sea

Much of the deep ocean that’s now desertifiedHuman activity has destroyed once-thriving aquatic ecosystems. Current Research explores how Whales form an important part of rebuilding that system, acting as “Biological pumps” that circulate nutrients from the depths of the ocean to its surface through their feeding and excreting behaviours.

Continue reading:
Oceans are more efficient at storing carbon than trees. Ocean carbon sinks can help stabilize our planet in a warmer world.

What’s more, CCRC experiments are exploring the potential for regenerating Ocean biomassAs a way of storing more carbon. Ocean biomass is a collection of plants, fish, and animals that thrive near the sea surface but then send their shells, bones, and decomposing vegetation to the deep ocean. This locks huge amounts of carbon into its seabed. They could increase biodiversity, improve fish stocks, and provide additional income. Income opportunities for marginalised communities across the world – as well as capturing tens of billions of tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere.

A third aspect of tackling the climate crisis involves fixing parts of the climate system that have already passed their “tipping point”: starting by refreezing the Arctic. Rapid Arctic melting has already caused many of the extreme weather events we’ve seen recently, from snow in Texas to floods in China, thanks to its distorting effects on the polar jet stream. This process can be reversed – for example by artificially increasing cloud cover over the region to reflect more sunlight away from Arctic ice – would allow the jet stream to return to normal, buying us more time to work on reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.

The challengesThe political aspects of reducing carbon emissions by switching to fossil fuels are more important than technical. The almost immediate benefitsCleaner air, better health, and new Millions of jobsShort-term worries should be outweighed by the benefits of alternative energy. If we want to ensure a sustainable future for humanity, we must use our most natural resource to remove carbon already released into the atmosphere.