For me, it came during the Pacific Northwest heat wave of June 2021, which sent temperatures soaring above 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) and set boreal forests ablaze. I had spent years studying ocean circulation and Earth's carbon cycle but not marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) techniques for reducing CO2 in the oceans so they, in turn, can draw more CO2 from the air.
Most of the questions that arose during the session were about fears that such research could create a moral hazard, allowing people to claim that drawing down CO2 lessens the urgency of reducing fossil-fuel emissions.
The tragedies could become much worse, given that even optimistic scenarios indicated the world would warm by at least another degree. I decided mCDR research was important.
If it ultimately showed that the methods were futile or hazardous, the research could prevent prolonged investment in a false hope. If the work revealed safe ways to stimulate the ocean to take up more CO2, then those could be new tools to help stabilize the climate.
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