The CBC reports that “Some parts of the Halifax harbour turned a bright shade of pink on Thursday — for science.”
After researchers dumped in 500 litres of safe, water-soluble dye, “boats, drones and underwater robots were then deployed to map the movement of the dye, so researchers can understand where materials spread and how quickly they do so.” The CTV calls it “part of long-term research project that could help reverse some of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions” by Dalhousie University and the climate-solutions research organization Planetary Technologies:
The move is the first step, says Katja Fennel, an oceanographer at Dalhousie, before researchers release alkaline material into the water this fall. That material will effectively act as an antacid for the ocean, helping to neutralize the additional acidic carbon dioxide being absorbed by the world’s oceans. “The purpose is to actually induce the ocean to take up atmospheric CO2 — CO2 from the air — and help us reduce legacy carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere,” Fennel told CTV News.
To track the uptake of carbon dioxide, researchers need to account for the movement of water. So “The ultimate goal here is to test an idea for a technology that would help us reduce atmospheric CO2,” one oceanographer leading the research told the CBC, “and could be one tool in the toolbox for fighting climate change…”
They point out that the ocean holds 50 times as much CO2 as is in the atmosphere, and call the experiment “cutting edge…world-leading research… Ocean alkalinity enhancement has the greatest potential, actually, in terms of storing carbon permanently and safely at a scale that is relevant for global climate.”
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Baron_Yam for sharing the article.
