Future Food & Ocean Warming

Author: Mike Lloyd | Date: 31 Jan 2019

Ocean warming is disrupting food stocks. How can technology help?

1-minute demystifier.

2017 was the warmest year on record in the ocean¹

Ocean warming is driving entire groups of marine species to different parts of the oceans

Marine life is following the direction and speed of climate change²

Warming oceans are expected to lead to reduced catches

In the meantime new innovations are helping produce more food sustainably

Aided by technological innovation, farmed seafood is on the rise

“The only way to protect ocean food resources is to cut greenhouse gas emissions³”.

Climate change is disrupting marine life, so Norway’s aquaculture industry is developing new ways to feed farmed salmon

CO2Bio uses Photo-bio reactors – a process based on photosynthesis which absorbs CO₂

CO2Bio’s transparent algae tubes take their CO₂from Norway’s largest oil refinery at Mongstad

Seaweed is a rapidly growing aquaculture crop that can also help reduce CO₂levels

Seaweed absorbs CO₂and turns it into carbon that can be buried in sediments⁴

If just 9% of the world’s ocean surface were used for seaweed farming, we could remove 53 billion tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere⁵

That same seaweed could also produce enough biofuels to replace all of today’s fossil fuel energy needs⁶

Robotic kelp farms are being developed by Marine BioEngergyInc⁷

Drones move the kelp plants to optimise sunlight and nutrient absorpsion, and then deliver them for harvest

To help protect our ocean food sources you can invest in renewables and green tech, and divest from fossil fuels

¹https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/hottest-year-record-global-warming-oceans-spd/

²https://phys.org/news/2013-09-movement-marine-life-climate.html

³https://www.iucn.org/news/secretariat/201609/latest-ocean-warming-review-reveals-extent-impacts-nature-and-humans

⁴https://oceana.org/blog/seaweed-could-be-scrubbing-way-more-carbon-atmosphere-we-expected

⁵https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/2016/03/31/seaweed-climate-change/

⁶https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/2016/03/31/seaweed-climate-change/

⁷https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/robotic-kelp-farms-promise-an-ocean-full-of-carbon-neutral-low-cost-energy

Photo: Mayor Astrid Aarhus Byrknesin Lindåsmunicipality.