Testing the waters: can pumping chemicals into the ocean help stop global heating?

"The ocean is already incredibly alkaline. [It holds] 38,000bn tonnes of carbon, stored as dissolved bicarbonate, or baking soda, says Adam Subhas, the lead oceanographer of the research team who announced early results from their test at the AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow. Boosting this natural alkalinity using a chemical antacid should, in theory, encourage the ocean to absorb more carbon."

"Over a large surface area, and in combination with sharp emissions reductions, OAE could prevent global temperatures exceeding 2C above preindustrial levels, while locally reducing ocean acidity, which is now higher than at any point in the past million years and poses a dire threat to marine life and fisheries."

"Licensed by the US Environmental Protection Agency and overseen by scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the experiment took place 50 miles off the coast of Massachusetts in an area commonly fished for cod, haddock and lobster. Albeit small in scale, their study, which has yet to go through peer review, found promising results."

Scientists conducted an ocean alkalinity enhancement experiment in the Gulf of Maine, deliberately releasing 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide tagged with red dye to test a climate mitigation technology. The ocean naturally stores 38,000 billion tonnes of carbon as dissolved bicarbonate. By boosting this alkalinity using chemical antacids, the ocean could absorb more carbon dioxide. Combined with emissions reductions, this approach could prevent global temperatures from exceeding 2°C above preindustrial levels while locally reducing ocean acidity, which currently threatens marine life and fisheries. The EPA-licensed Loc-ess project used advanced technology including autonomous gliders and underwater vehicles to track the chemical dispersal over five days, yielding promising early results before peer review.

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