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To achieve this, we must collectively curb our net greenhouse gas emissions. These gases—with carbon dioxide (CO₂) the largest contributor—act as a cosmic blanket by trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere.

Scientists are investigating ways to lock up more atmospheric carbon in our oceans, forests and soils.

One of the proposed methods is ocean alkalinity enhancement. This aims to boost the ocean's natural ability to absorb and store atmospheric carbon dioxide by changing the chemistry of seawater.

So how does this process work, and what are the risks?

Let's unpack the research.

A lesson in ocean chemistry

The ocean is one of the largest carbon stores on the planet. About 30% of the CO₂ we emit annually—through burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas—are absorbed by our seas.

The ocean's ability to absorb CO₂ is largely determined by how alkaline it is. Seawater is naturally alkaline. This is because over millions of years, the ocean has absorbed alkaline minerals from the weathering and breakdown of rocks.

What is ocean alkalinity enhancement?

By taking up atmospheric carbon, the ocean has helped regulate Earth's climate over long periods. However, this natural process is far too slow to combat climate change.

That's where ocean alkalinity enhancement comes in.

Alkalinity enhancement accelerates this carbon capture process by increasing the ocean's alkalinity. This allows seawater to convert more dissolved CO₂ into stable forms. As a result, the ocean absorbs more CO₂ overall and keeps more carbon out of our atmosphere.

In practice, increasing the ocean's alkalinity involves adding materials such as dissolved sodium hydroxide or ground-up silicate and carbonate rocks to seawater.

So far, it has been tested through several small-scale projects. These typically involve researchers releasing alkaline materials at coastal locations, using ships or special facilities and equipment.

Questions remain

While this method seems promising, there are still some unknowns.

Scale: We don't know whether it's possible to roll it out at scale, which is key to reaching global net-zero targets. Scientists are also investigating how well ocean alkalinity enhancement works in different regions and marine ecosystems.

This means projects must be tailored to specific locations. Our research shows even seemingly minor differences in ocean currents, wind, water depth and seasonal conditions all affect how much CO₂ can be absorbed.

Safety: Early field trials and modeling suggest that removing CO₂ through small-scale alkalinity enhancement projects had few measurable impacts on nearby protected areas.

Several lab-based studies also suggest small increases in alkalinity have little or no effect on some Australian kelp and algae species. Meanwhile, other research identifies limitations on the amount that can be added and ecosystem effects from different alkaline materials.

Scientists are working to add to this evidence base through proposed field tests in the Bass Strait, conducted aboard the RV Investigator. These tests, which will bring together experts and students from across Australia, will help us identify any environmental impacts and hone our skills in measuring changes caused by ocean alkalinity enhancement.

Community support: Without public support, alkalinity enhancement projects are unlikely to be successful. Research suggests communities are somewhat wary. Research from Tasmania shows people prefer to be involved in decision-making processes and not just consulted. Communities also want clear information about the environmental impacts of future projects.

In Australia, we must also engage with First Nations communities when designing field tests and proposed projects. Only then can we draw on their deep knowledge and enduring connection to Sea Country.

Where to from here

Our climate is rapidly changing. And unless we curb our carbon emissions, this trend will only get worse.

Locking up atmospheric carbon dioxide through ocean alkalinity enhancement is one way to do this. However, changing the chemistry of our oceans comes with certain risks and limitations.

So any future attempts must balance the urgent need for atmospheric carbon removal with robust research and meaningful community engagement. This ensures that any ocean alkalinity enhancement is both environmentally responsible and socially supported.

Getting this balance right is essential for Australia and other nations, informing how we steward our seas and other natural resources to reach our ambitious climate targets.

More information

Harris J. Anderson et al, Regional ocean dynamics regulate the efficiency of ocean alkalinity enhancement, Frontiers in Climate (2026). DOI: 10.3389/fclim.2026.1827706

Who's behind this story?

Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Citation: Can ocean chemistry be altered to absorb carbon? The pros and cons (2026, July 24) retrieved 24 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ocean-chemistry-absorb-carbon-pros.html

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Samsung nearly always does something weird during its Unpacked launch events: sometimes by getting a smiling Mark Zuckerberg to walk past a dystopian audience in VR, or hiring a random movie star or K-Pop band and this year, Spider-Man's sidekick. (Ed. note: Guy in the chair, Mat!)

This year, to mark the launch of three new foldables, two new smartwatches and to tease some almost-here smart glasses, Samsung is smashing together its Fold 8 series with the (concept of the) great British boozer in the center of Soho, London. And because I thrive at covering random, slightly confusing pop-up brand activations, I went along to the Fold Inn to see if there was any cool tech to write up. Samsung made sure to have a few product experts around, but following our Unpacked liveblog (and my own briefing on all the new devices) I knew everything to know about the company's latest, except which beers were on offer.

As is to be expected of any good product activation, the Fold Inn featured several themed vignettes.  The main attractions included a "folded" bar that extended up the wall, with (non-working) beer taps. Samsung had three non-alcoholic beers on tap, each themed to somehow convey the personality of its new phones: the City Pour, Soho Sippa and Shoreditch Pint. These were available in half pints and tasted pretty terrible to me, though your experience may vary, of course. If you're hoping to know what exact brand of non-alcoholic beers they were so you can avoid them in future, I'm sorry to report that Samsung declined to share who brewed the beer. There was also non-Samsung-themed Grolsh (3.4 percent APV) for proper legends.

Mat Smith for Engadget

In the backroom, there was also a pool table that crept up the wall. It matched the aspect ratio of the newly launched Galaxy Z Flip 8, several of which were dotted around the table. The walls were decorated in line drawings and artworks that wouldn't look out of place in a Sam Smith's or a traditional-style pub in the UK. That is, until you looked closer at the images, and spotted the phones in everyone's hands. There was even a dog on a flip-phone. While the Samsung devices pictured were from around 2006, that was 20 years ago — long enough to feel historical to me.

There was also a signed England football shirt on the wall — classic pub decor, even if it would have been better off the back of a World Cup victory. I pulled out a Z Fold 8 and tasked Gemini with figuring out which players the signatures might belong to. It turned out to be a Euro '96 squad — when my interest in soccer peaked — with the autographs of strikers Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham and manager Terry Venables all easy enough to spot.

Mat Smith for Engadget

The Fold Inn nailed some of the pub fundamentals, like having not enough seats and a steadfast denial of the existence of air-conditioning. The biggest divorce from the reality of a British pub, though? Having three taps dedicated to alcohol-free beer. It makes sense, given the opening hours: The Fold Inn will open its doors for only two days, today (July 24) and tomorrow, from 11AM to 8PM. And if you can't get enough of Samsung's London invasion, it's got ads on buses and huge digital signage just down the road in Covent Garden too. You can't escape the Folds.

Mat Smith for Engadget %!s()

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The singer was arrested in May 2025 and charged with assault, suspicion of grievous bodily harm, and possession of an offensive weapon (a tequila bottle). The incident occurred in February 2023, where Brown and his co-defendant Omololu “Hoody Baby” Akinlolu allegedly attacked and stomped on music producer Amadou “Abe” Diaw at a London nightclub.

Brown and Akinlolu both previously pleaded not guilty to those charges, and at a short hearing Friday, the pair pleaded guilty to a charge of affray, while the more serious charges were dropped by the court, the BBC reports.

A charge of “affray” stems from someone who “fights with another person in a public place to the terror of the people.” The affray charge accepted by the defendants states that “Chris Brown and Omololu Akinlolu on February 19 2023 used or threatened unlawful violence towards another and their conduct taken together was such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.”

Both Brown and Akinlolu were again released on bail following the guilty plea and will return to the U.K. on September 26 for sentencing; the pair face a maximum of three years in prison.

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“This was a vicious and unprovoked attack by Brown and Akinlolu in a crowded nightclub where Brown used a glass bottle as a weapon to strike the victim’s head twice,” Crown Prosecution Service senior prosecutor Claire Campbell said Friday. “This kind of violence is entirely unacceptable, and the Crown Prosecution Service will work tirelessly — with the police and partners across the criminal justice system — to pursue cases like this, and prove that no one is above the law.”

Diaw previously filed a $16 million lawsuit against Brown over the incident, but dropped the lawsuit in June 2025; it’s unclear if the two sides reached an out-of-court settlement. %!s()

Avi Lewis, the federal leader of the New Democratic party (NDP), demanded on Tuesday that Ottawa address the contract and further restrict Canadian corporations from doing business with ICE, after Canada’s National Observer news website reported on the deal.

“My blood ran cold when I read about this development,” he added in a statement to the Guardian. “Complicity between Canadian corporations and ICE should absolutely be illegal.”

Under the US$125m (£94m) deal, ICE will pay the technology and content conglomerate to access its Clear database – which includes property records, social media and geolocation information – in order to identify “voter fraud” and “immigration fraud”, according to reports.

In a procurement document obtained by 404 Media, Thomson Reuters says it is the only company that allows ICE to have access to the “continuous monitoring” of millions of people.

Thomson Reuters’ contracts with ICE date back to 2015, when it first began providing US officials with access to Clear in order to track people for deportation. Critics have long alleged that the databases were being used to facilitate human rights abuses.

The latest contract, however, is the first to state that Clear software will be used to support the Trump administration’s objectives of addressing supposed “voter fraud”.

In a recent primetime television address, the president repeated false claims about the supposed fallibility of the 2020 US presidential election results, alleging voter fraud, noncitizen voting and a host of other misleading or incorrect statements. Election officials from across the political spectrum lambasted the speech and reasserted the reliability of US elections.

Thomson Reuters is owned by the Woodbridge Company, a holding company for the Thomson family, frequently described as the richest family in Canada. The media company also owns the news agency Reuters and the Globe and Mail newspaper.

A spokesperson for Thomson Reuters said it did not comment on customer contracts, and referred to a page on the company’s website about Clear.

The post says there are “misunderstandings” about the tool, and that it is licensed “exclusively to select businesses, law enforcement and government agencies to help expedite investigative processes in legitimate legal investigations”.

The company emphasises that its “investigative solutions are not surveillance tools”.

Lewis said the federal government should deny export permits to companies selling equipment to ICE, and pull public subsidies or contracts from any companies that have dealings with the agency. In January, the NDP made similar calls after the fatal shootings of two US citizens by ICE in Minneapolis.

“If the Carney government is serious about Canadian economic independence, it should move to block this contract,” Lewis said.

The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Thomson Reuters contract.

Joel Bakan, a law professor at the University of British Columbia and author of several books on the unethical behaviour of corporations, said the legal framework did exist in Canada to bar companies from working with ICE.

“Companies are not allowed to engage with various rogue regimes, authoritarian regimes, and certainly enemy regimes,” he said. “It’s definitely within the jurisdiction of the government, including the federal government of Canada, to impose various kinds of limitations.”

He pointed to Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act, the country’s primary sanctions law, which can authorise the government to restrict trade in relation to human rights violations. “As a matter of realpolitik, I can’t imagine the federal government invoking this against the US, but it is at least arguable that ICE has been involved in such violations,” he said. %!s()