Part two of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster: A six-part series
(Photo: Courtesy Sustainable Marine Energy)
May 3, 2021
Climate scientists used to be baffled by this question: what role does the ocean play in the carbon cycle?
A starring role, as it turns out. And as humans disrupt the carbon cycle through burning fossil fuels, the ocean has also become a key player in the climate crisis.
That’s because the ocean sucks up a surprisingly large amount of the carbon-based gases emitted by burning those fuels, as well as most of the heat the gases trap near the Earth’s surface. It ends up being about a third of the carbon and 90 per cent of the heat.