Variation of carbon dioxide pressure
Accordingly Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change At some point, we will start removing carbon dioxide from the air to stay below the 1.5 to 2 degree global warming level. “Then at a certain point, in terms of pressure difference, there is more carbon dioxide in the ocean than in the air. And now we have a situation where the ocean is absorbing carbon dioxide, because there is a very high pressure of carbon dioxide from the air,” Grosskamp explains. It actually pumps it down. “It then rotates, and the ocean then becomes an endless reservoir of carbon.”
Clean up the mess
The oceans will then begin to release carbon dioxide, while they currently absorb a quarter of the carbon dioxide we release. Although this is nice, it also has consequences. “We’re paying for it,” Grosskamp says. “It makes the oceans more acidic, disrupts ecosystems, puts our food supply at risk and causes many other problems. Ultimately, we still have to clean up the mess we make, and that’s what it comes down to.”
Solutions
There are two possible options for reabsorbing carbon dioxide from the sea. The first is the so-called algae farm on water. “Just like trees, algae also absorbs carbon dioxide,” says the oceanographer. “And you can sometimes use that algae to make bricks, for example, which are then used to build houses.”
Olivine was also mentioned as a solution. “This is a rock that actually absorbs carbon dioxide when it comes into contact with water and then a chemical reaction occurs.” But Grosskamp stresses that the consequences of both potential solutions are unknown and that more research is needed.
