新澳门六合彩开奖

The United Nations calls the ocean 鈥渢he lungs of the planet.鈥� It absorbs 25 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions and sequesters up to four times more carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere than terrestrial forests. But what if it could take an even deeper breath? What if we could leverage its natural capacity to sequester CO₂ from the atmosphere?

The answer to this question has the potential to be game changing for humanity鈥檚 fight against climate change, and 新澳门六合彩开奖 has taken the global lead in pursuing it with nearly $15 million in support from the . Lead principal investigator Dr. Katja Fennel, chair of 新澳门六合彩开奖鈥檚 Department of Oceanography, says the Ocean Alk-align research program, which includes researchers in North America, Europe, and Australia, will investigate how a human-induced increase in ocean alkalinity could enhance the ocean鈥檚 ability to absorb and hold carbon.

An antacid for the ocean

The process of alkalinity enhancement is compared to adding an antacid to the ocean, the kind we take for heartburn or when our stomachs are upset. Over the past 200 years, the burning of fossil fuels has increased ocean acidification and reduced its ability to absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere. Through targeted enhancement of ocean alkalinity,听Dr. Fennel and her colleagues will study if they can reverse ocean acidification to make the ocean more receptive to CO₂ 补产蝉辞谤辫迟颈辞苍.听

"Currently, ocean alkalinity enhancement is not a mature technology and its environmental impacts have not been assessed in the field,鈥� says Dr. Fennel. 鈥淥ur research consortium will tackle the three most pressing research issues: the efficiency and permanence of CO₂ removal, its environmental risks and potential benefits, and the monitoring and verification of CO₂ 耻辫迟补办别.鈥�

Dr. Katja Fennel.听

A 20 giga tonne problem

The need for the research is urgent says Dr. Fennel, who notes it is now widely accepted that global efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions are not enough to veer us off a course toward catastrophic climate change. The United Nations鈥� Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says to meet these targets, the world needs to remove 10 giga tonnes (equivalent to one billion tonnes) of CO₂ from the atmosphere per year by the middle of the century, and 20 giga tonnes per year by the end of the century. Ocean carbon alkalinity enhancement could be a key to meeting these targets.听听

The 新澳门六合彩开奖-led听Alk-align听project is supported by the听,听a non-profit program funded by philanthropic foundations in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Carbon to Sea seeks to assess the conditions under which ocean alkalinity enhancement can become a safe, cost-effective and scalable method for atmospheric CO₂ removal. The $15-million CAD grant to听Alk-align听is the largest funding commitment of the initiative to date.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to aggressively reduce emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere,鈥� said Mike Schroepfer, board chair of Carbon to Sea and co-founder of Additional Ventures, a purpose-driven organization that started and spun-out Carbon to Sea. 鈥淪cientists agree that OAE has enormous potential to permanently remove and store carbon and more funding for research is needed. We are here to respond to the call for research funding a