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      An Assessment of the Potential Value for Climate Remediation of Ocean Calcifiers in Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon

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            Abstract

            Today’s marine calcifiers (coccolithophore algae, Foraminifera [protists], Mollusca, Crustacea, Anthozoa [corals], Echinodermata) remove carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere, converting it into solid calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) which is stable for geological periods of time. These organisms could serve as a biotechnological carbon capture and storage mechanism to control climate change. Two criticisms made about this are: (i) ocean acidification has allegedly been shown to cause reduced shell formation in calcifiers; (ii) the calcification reaction that precipitates CaCO 3 crystals into the shells is alleged to return CO 2 to the atmosphere. In this review we assess the evidence concerning such criticisms and find reasons to doubt both. Experiments showing that ocean acidification is damaging to calcifiers have all used experimental pH levels that are not projected to be reached in the oceans until the next century or later; today’s oceans, despite recent changes, are alkaline in pH. Claiming precipitation of CaCO 3 during calcification as a net source of CO 2 to the atmosphere is an oversimplification of ocean chemistry that is true only in open water environments. Living calcifiers do not carry out the calcification reaction in an open water environment in equilibrium with the atmosphere. The chemistry that we know as life takes place on the surfaces of enzymatic polypeptides, within organelles that have phospholipid membranes, contained in a cell enclosed within another phospholipid bilayer membrane specifically to isolate the chemistry of life from the open water environment. Ignoring what is known about the biology, physiology, and molecular cell biology of living organisms, calcifiers of all types especially, leads to erroneous conclusions and deficient advice about the potential for biotechnology to contribute to atmosphere remediation. We conclude that the world’s aquaculture industries already operate the biotechnology that, with massive and immediate global expansion, can contribute to sustainably controlling atmospheric CO 2 levels at reasonable cost and with several positive benefits in addition to carbon sequestration.

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            Author and article information

            Journal
            ScienceOpen Preprints
            ScienceOpen
            3 June 2022
            Affiliations
            [1 ] School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, UK (retired, independent researcher)
            [2 ] Private address, independent researcher, Kaysersberg, France
            [3 ] 6 B 4 Kyytimiehentie,
            [4 ] Kääpä Biotech Oy, Teilinummentie 4, 09120 Karjalohja, Finland
            [5 ] Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, UK
            [6 ] Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
            [7 ] Private address, independent researcher, Mandeville, Louisiana, USA
            Author notes
            Author information
            https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3968-0587
            Article
            10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-.PPGSZEY.v1
            07f7eea3-e3d7-412d-9f6a-278a43bf9df5

            This work has been published open access under Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0 , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Conditions, terms of use and publishing policy can be found at www.scienceopen.com .

            History
            : 3 June 2022
            Funding
            This research received no external funding, the authors funded it entirely from their own pockets. none

            Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
            Earth & Environmental sciences,Life sciences
            carbon sequestration,carbonate chemistry,biotechnology,climate change,carbonate biology,remediation.,aquaculture

            Comments

            Now a day’s Civilization will need to remove hundreds of giga tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the environment up to  end of the 21st  century to achieve  global warming below 2°C within the constraints of the global carbon budget. However, so far it is unclear if and how this could be achieved. A widely recognized idea is to accelerate weathering reactions of minerals that consume CO2 when they dissolve. In present research work the best way suggested calcification reaction that precipitates CaCO321crystals into the shells is alleged to return CO2to the atmosphere. present review will really help for method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate change. excellent  review

            2022-07-03 08:31 UTC
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