We could aid the ocean in removing atmospheric carbon dioxide by encouraging marine snow formation. Marine snow could be used as a drawdown technique to stop global warming and climate change. This has been helping the top carbon sequestration companies to reverse climate change.
Oceanographers refer to collections of sinking debris in the water column as “marine snow.” The aggregates contain clay, minerals, tiny pieces of calcite and opaline silica from phytoplankton with shells, as well as the remains of jellyfish, larvaceans, salps, and other large zooplankton (e.g., diatoms and coccolithophores). Marine snow gets its name from the way it appears from a research submarine’s window: a blizzard of white against a sea of deep blue.
Marine snow is the byproduct of photosynthesis in surface water illuminated by the sun. Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, and other inorganic materials are incorporated into phytoplankton tissues using the energy of sunlight during photosynthesis. The remains of the phytoplankton start to sink toward the ocean floor when they perish, or zooplankton eats them.
Saving the Earth from the greenhouse effect
Large amounts of carbon will be sequestered from the atmosphere’s greenhouse effect for thousands of years if marine snow transports the carbon to depth. Carbon dioxide, one of the primary greenhouse gasses, can quickly re-enter the surface ocean and atmosphere if it is recycled close to the surface. As a result, a critical factor in global climate and global-climate models is how marine snow behaves. It is crucial to know what will happen to the other marine-snow components. Iron, phosphorus, and nitrogen are recycled to provide nutrients for upcoming phytoplankton generations. When the phytoplankton grow in numbers, oxygen levels rise as they release oxygen during photosynthesis.
Release of vast amounts of oxygen
Dead marine organisms’ remains cover the ocean floor. More than 25% of the oxygen the world breathes is released by phytoplankton, some of the remains mentioned. They also create a giant carbon sink on Earth in the process. Every organic particle that hits the ocean floor produces a sizable amount of oxygen, which aids in storing atmospheric carbon. These become compacted over time and create one of the best carbonate structures on Earth. They transform into what is known as marine snow deposits, which aid in removing the planet’s deadly carbon dioxide.
Making life possible for humans
The deep-sea carbonates make up a sizable portion of what essentially keeps the Earth habitable for human life. To better comprehend the state of Earth’s atmosphere, even minute changes in the sequestration of carbonate carbon that sinks to the ocean floor must be studied.
The Time to Act is NOW!
Ocean chemistry and temperature changes threaten global food security, with particularly dire consequences for developing nations that rely heavily on seafood as a source of protein. As a result of the rapid rise in sea levels caused by melting ice sheets and glaciers, coastal communities and vital coastal infrastructure are at risk of flooding and erosion. Also, as the oceans heat, phytoplankton migrate towards the poles and the biological productivity that comes with their presence.
Our coastlines are now even more susceptible to extreme weather events due to the warming ocean, which has also contributed to rising sea levels and stronger storms. While this is happening, climate disasters have the power to disrupt lives and ways of life, cause climate migration, destabilize countries, and endanger national security.
There is more to marine snow than a submerged monument. It also serves as a carbon sink, soaking up atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions and storing the carbon for millennia. Marine snow serves as one of nature’s most effective barriers to global warming in this way. The significance of marine snow’s impact over geological time has never been quantified, despite scientists’ long-standing understanding of marine snow’s role in the carbon cycle.
Marine snow is thus instrumental in our planet’s changing climatic structure. And we, along with our carbon removal pumps (also known as Ocean Upwelling Pumps or Artificial Upwelling Pumps), are trying to understand marine snow better and sink carbon dioxide in the ocean by helping phytoplankton grow with the nutrient-rich seawater we pump from the deep sea.
Final words:
Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Inc. has been steering forward the most impactful carbon dioxide removal solutions from the ocean waters and depths. You must visit their website and find several other blogs and pieces of valuable information related to their work. Leave a comment or share the blogs to spread the work that they are doing. Moreover, the company is dedicated to presenting its work to global citizens who must know the importance of climate reversing methods, the significance of phytoplankton, and the effects of carbon removal solutions.