Can the ocean help save the planet?
Covering 70% of the Earth’s surface, the ocean already acts as a giant carbon sink, removing about a quarter of the carbon dioxide produced each year by human activity, scientists estimate. Atmospheric carbon is absorbed through the physical mixing of air and water at the surface and with chemical reactions below that involve photosynthesis by marine plankton. Once the carbon enters the ocean, it can be safely locked up in the deep sea for hundreds or thousands of years, research has shown.
