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Largest mapping of breathing ocean floor key to understanding global carbon cycle by Staff Writers Texel, Netherlands (SPX) Oct 30, 2019
Marine sediments play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle due to the oxygen consumption and CO2 respiration of the organisms that live in and on the ocean floor. To help predict the changing contribution of this respiration to the carbon cycle in a warming world, researchers from the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and universities in Taiwan have compiled the largest open-access database available of the sediment community oxygen consumption and CO2 respiration. Their findings are published in Nature Scientific Data on 29 October 2019.
98% of the CO2 dissolved in sea water "This large data-base is valuable. In-depth knowledge of the processes involved and the rates helps other scientists predict future scenarios for ongoing changes in climate and the oceans.", says Professor Gert-Jan Reichart of NIOZ and University of Utrecht, and coordinator of a multi-stakeholder CO2-to-Ocean research coalition about the publication, in which he did not take part.
CO2 respiration by seafloor dwelling organisms However, most of the organic carbon is respired again as CO2 by microorganisms and animals that live in the top 10 to 50 cm of the sediment. The sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) - or put differently: -the CO2 respiration of organisms living in and on the seafloor - is considered a good proxy to understand the degradation of organic matter and to measure the flux of organic matter to the seafloor. These rates will likely be affected by climate change and to predict their contribution to the carbon cycle in a warmer world, a sound understanding of the rates under the current climate regime is necessary. Therefore, the authors compiled the largest open-access database of SCOC that exists so far with more than 3,500 data entries from the literature and from measurements performed by the authors themselves on sea-going expeditions.
Southern hemisphere still undersampled Besides reporting actual SCOC values, this database can therefore also be used to plan future sampling campaigns to fill white spots on the map and improve the understanding of carbon cycling in these areas. The 3,500 data-entries constituting the data base were based on sampling stations across the globe, but predominantly across the Northern hemisphere.
MIT engineers develop a new way to remove carbon dioxide from air Boston MA (SPX) Oct 28, 2019 A new way of removing carbon dioxide from a stream of air could provide a significant tool in the battle against climate change. The new system can work on the gas at virtually any concentration level, even down to the roughly 400 parts per million currently found in the atmosphere. Most methods of removing carbon dioxide from a stream of gas require higher concentrations, such as those found in the flue emissions from fossil fuel-based power plants. A few variations have been developed that can w ... read more
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