
Oceans & marine


Sea water has a low albedo of around 0.1 and therefore absorbs most of the incoming solar energy. Since water covers over two thirds of the Earth’s surface, changes to this albedo can potentially cause significant changes in global temperatures.

Artificial downwelling
Artificial downwelling (AD) is an idea to pump upper layer water deeper down into the ocean.

Improved fishing practices and management
Fisheries contribute to global CO2 emissions by the extraction of fish, disturbance of coastal and oceanic blue carbon ecosystems, and the use of fossil fuels as their main energy source. Fishing vessels are moreover a major source of short-lived climate forcers like black carbon (McKuin and Campbell 2016), which can have a major effect in Arctic and Northern regions (see Black carbon reduction).

Ocean fertilization
Ocean fertilization schemes seek to increase the amount of available nutrients in the top layer of the ocean to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton.

Enhancing oceanic light availability below the photic layer
Ocean bioproductivity through photosynthesis stops beyond the photic layer as no more energy from the sun can penetrate beyond that point.