CO2 removal (CDR) capacity is far from the gigaton scale needed to round out businessesâ net-zero efforts by 2050. We explore a mature CDR marketâs potential and possible first-mover advantages.
This report is a collaborative effort by Peter Mannion, Emma Parry, Mark Patel, Erik Ringvold, and Jonathan Scott, representing views from McKinsey Sustainability and McKinseyâs Global Energy and Materials Practices. | December 2023
Julia A. Sanders died on December 8, 2021 from complications following spleen-removal surgery at University of Washington Medical Center. She was 41.
Known for her exceptional kindness, loyalty, and intellect, Julia is remembered as a steadfast ally and friend, a loving daughter and sister, and a wise, deeply committed advocate for fishing communities facing increasing impacts of climate change.
Julia served as Deputy Director of the National Fisheries Conservation Center (NFCC) and its Global Ocean Health program. In that role she wore many hats: editor of the Ocean Acidification Report and other publications; manager of social media operations; organizer of fundraising events; administrative manager; researcher; public speaker; and advisor to the Working Group on Seafood and Energy, a trade organization representing seafood-dependent communities and businesses.
A gifted writer of epistolary emails, Julia cultivated friends and supporters on behalf of Global Ocean Health, earning a deeply loyal following of her own. âWhat a fun gal! Feisty courageous spunky daring forgiving smart caring- and so much more- we are going to miss her like crazy,â recalls Anne Kroeker of Seattle, who with her husband Richard Leeds became close friends with Julia. On learning of Juliaâs death, Richard wrote: âTears and tearing of my heart. My utmost sympathy goes out to you and her family at this devastating loss. Sadly losing Julia is the worst loss of these difficult times. Julia was a great person and greatly appreciated. Marine ecosystems and sustainability lost a great benefactor.â
Alyson Myers, a Virginia shellfish grower and nonprofit leader researching potential for sustainable harvest of sargassum overgrowth in the Atlantic, wrote: âJulia was a joy. She was gifted and intelligent, joyful in her work writing about ways to assist our biggest ecosystem, the ocean. She loved researching solutions and those who pursued them.â
âJulia was completely integral to the work of Global Ocean Health, and was loved by many of the people we work with,â said Brad Warren, President of NFCC. âPersonally, I feel like Iâve lost an adopted daughter. Julia first came to work with me 20 years ago at Pacific Fishing Magazine, when we hired her to work in the circulation department. She immediately cracked problems in the magazineâs subscription database that had stumped everyone else.â Warren notes that Julia was soon managing circulation, then took over advertising, where she showed a knack for building new relationships and built her skills in sales and marketing. After leaving the magazine, Warren brought her on board for many projects in publishing, research, editing and administration, leading to her role at NFCC.
At NFCCâs Global Ocean Health Program, Julia earned widespread respect among tribes and fishing communities, scientists and sustainability experts as a skilled analyst and advocate. She played a key role in the organizationâs work convening experts and practitioners to navigate impacts of ocean acidification, rising temperatures and sea levels, and related challenges. She built and led NFCCâs work with shellfish growers and coastal engineers to increase coastal resilience in shellfish farms. She edited most of NFCCâs publications and proposals. Julia also led real-time modeling of climate policy (using LCPIâs GHG Explorer software) for NFCCâs work with Washington tribes in 2018, which laid the groundwork for passage of the stateâs landmark Climate Commitment Act of 2021, widely considered the strongest climate policy in the United States.
Memorial plans will be announced within a few weeks.
To honor Juliaâs determination to protect oceans and fisheries, contributions in her memory may be sent to Global Ocean Health, NFCC, PO Box 30615, Seattle WA 98103.
What’s killing west coast kelp and what we stand to lose.
In the latest episode of Changing Waters, Global Ocean Health’s Deputy Director Julia Sanders interviews kelp guru, Dr. Tom Mumford from the Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington in Seattle. Â From Northern California to Southern Oregon, kelp is undergoing devastating losses, with 95% of kelp forests transformed into urchin barrens. Â Tom explains what happened and the miraculous benefits kelp provides as an ecosystem engineer and as a source for new scientific discoveries. Â From kelp-derived plastic you can eat, to wound care, from rediscovering how kelp can help farmers, to a critical contributor to biodiversity and marine food webs, there is much to be gained from kelp. Â Catch this episode of Changing Waters and open your eyes to a miracle macroalgae and the struggle to keep it thriving in changing ocean conditions.Â
Hereâs a salute to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who today broke a legislative logjam to cut carbon emissions (see AP article below). Unchecked carbon pollution is emerging as the largest looming threat to fisheries, which supply tens of thousands of jobs and millions of meals from waters of the Pacific Northwest, and more than a million jobs nationwide.
A bitter, drawn-out fight in Oregonâs legislature saw minority Republicans twice block a quorum on climate legislation by walking out instead of getting outvoted. So today Gov. Kate Brown busted a new move: Cutting carbon pollution by executive order.
Will it stick? Thatâs an open question. But win, lose or draw, Gov. Brownâs action shows a willingness to experiment in tackling a vital problem for the future of Oregon.
Thatâs a win for all of us who produce or enjoy seafood. It’s even a win for those who donât, but who are just grateful to be breathing.
Turns out the ocean provides half our oxygen, not just seafood for billions of people worldwide. Carbon pollution acidifies seawater, robs its oxygen, amplifies fish-killing heatwaves, and aggravates toxic algae blooms. Weâve seen enough.
Innovation and courage have been a hallmark of state leadership to clean up carbon pollution for more than decade. States on both the east and west coasts are doing their job as America’s civic laboratories: they are steadfastly chipping at the carbon crisis that Congress has been unable seriously to address, and that our current president derides as a hoax. Thankfully, we have state leaders who know better.
Thank you Gov. Brown.
Sincerely,
Brad Warren
Executive DirectorÂ
National Fisheries Conservation Center
Home of the Global Ocean Health program
Originally published in National Fisherman here
Read More at AP: Oregon Governor takes sweeping action on climate
Join us aboard the F/V North American (as seen on âDeadliest Catchâ) for an oyster bar, salmon, crab, beer, wine, and other delicious local foods. Check out the suite of emissions-reducing, fuel-saving technologies onboard and support National Fisheries Conservation Centerâs Global Ocean Health program.
National Fisheries Conservation Center and its Global Ocean Health program have been part of the waterfront for decades: spreading the word and exploring how to tackle ocean acidification, harmful algal blooms, warming/species shift, and other changing conditions. This is your opportunity to show that work matters to you.
Hear from seafood leaders about the work of Global Ocean Health in ensuring that the ocean continues to produce the fish and shellfish we love, for our grandchildren and beyond. Enjoy entertainment from Fisher Poets and our own Executive Director Brad Warren! Participate in our silent auction and help the organization grow. We hope to see you there!
Buy your tickets at: https://globaloceanhealth.brownpapertickets.com
Opportunities for sponsorship or donation of food or products are available – reply for more information. If you can’t attend but would like to make a tax-deductible donation, visit: http://globaloceanhealth.org/donate/.
Thank you to our Gold Sponsors:
Alaska Ship Supply, Orca Bay Seafoods, and Wildlife Forever Fund
Thank you for your support — looking forward to seeing you May 10th! The F/V North American is docked at Ocean Beauty Seafoods, at 1100 W Ewing St, Seattle, WA – on the Ship Canal, close to the Ballard Bridge.
Brad Warren, Director
Julia Sanders, Deputy Director
Special thanks to all our generous in-kind donors:Â Taylor Shellfish, Grand Central Baking Company, Deckhand’s Daughter Seafood, Loki Fish Co, Proletariat Wines, Wild Salmon Seafood Center, Clearwater Resort and Casino, Seattle Sounders, Bakery Nouveau, MoPOP, Anne Kroeker and Richard Leeds, the Seattle Shakespeare Company, the Coca-Cola Company, Optimism Brewing Co, Agua Verde Cafe & Paddle Club, Finnriver Cider, Morning Glory Chai, Chinookâs, Vicki Sutherland-Horton, Holly Hughes, Ethan Stowell Restaurants, Cynthia Blair, The Old Alcohol Plant, Clipper Vacations, and of course Erling Skaar/GenTech.
September 23rd, 2014, By Mona Elisabeth Brother, The Huffington Post Canada
As nations of seafarers and fishermen, Norwegians and Canadians have lived in close contact with the ocean throughout history. We have reaped its benefits and weathered its storms. Healthy oceans are key to a healthy future for us peoples of the North.
The oceans are facing many challenges. A third of the world’s fish stocks are overfished or depleted. Marine litter kills a million seabirds every year, and ocean acidification is putting entire marine ecosystems at risk.
Under the umbrella of the Arctic Council and during the Canadian chair, acidification of the seas has come forward as a central theme. The working group AMAP presented in 2013 a thorough report on this issue, based on science from a wide range of countries, Arctic and non- Arctic stakeholders. This report in its turn, form the background for the Arctic Council’s present work on these extremely important issue.
Some of the facts are appalling. Acidification is taking place at a speed unforeseen by scientists only a decade ago. In addition, it is taking place over a wide range of ocean depths; most rapidly in surface waters and more slowly in deeper waters. For example, notable chemical effects have for example been found in surface waters of the Bering Strait and the Canada Basin of the central Arctic Ocean.
The primary driver of ocean acidification is uptake of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by human activities, specifically when burning carbon-rich materials such as coal or oil. Some of this gas is absorbed by the oceans, slowing down its build-up in the atmosphere and thus the pace of human-induced climate warming, but at the same time increasing seawater activity. As a result, the average acidity of surface ocean waters worldwide is now about 30 per cent higher than at the start of the Industrial Revolution.
The Arctic Ocean is especially vulnerable to ocean acidification; due to the large quantities of freshwater supplied from rivers and melting ice, this part of the ocean is less effective at chemically neutralizing the acidifying effects. The cold waters also favour the transfer of carbon dioxide from the air into the ocean, and the recent and dramatic melting of the ice decreases the summer sea-ice cover.
Sea-ice cover, freshwater inputs, and plant growth and decay can also influence the state of the oceans, varying over seasons, place to place, and year to year.
Arctic marine ecosystems are highly likely to undergo significant change due to these changes, scientists find. Precise data on effects on species in the top of the food chains, as sea birds and seals, and bottom animals like sea stars and urchins, are needed, and underway, for the Arctic region. Growth rates, behaviour, shell formation and growth studies show that many species will grow slower under predicted rates of acidification. Some shell-building are likely to react negatively, and fish eggs and early larval stages are sensitive to changes. Fisheries might be affected, but which changes we can foresee, are uncertain. Fish stocks may be more robust to acidification if other stresses — for example, overfishing or habitat degradation — are minimized.
The only way to fight ocean acidification is through a reduction in the global level of CO2 emissions. It is vital for Norway and other key players that the climate summit in Paris next year is successful. Norway is committed to the process and to achieving an ambitious outcome as we work towards the two-degree target and a low carbon society.
Norway and Canada, together with the other members of the Arctic Council, recognized in the Kiruna Declaration that carbon dioxide emission reductions are the only effective way to mitigate ocean acidification, and agreed to take action to this effect, and monitor and assess the state of the Arctic Ocean.
 Read more here
International Institute for Sustainable Development. May 19th, 2014. By David Osborn, Director, Environment Laboratory, IAEA
I last wrote an article for this bulletin in July 2009 (Guest article #17). On that occasion, I reflected on the immense expectations surrounding the climate negotiations in Copenhagen and the need to âSeal the Deal.’ I can see many of you holding back a wry smile as you remember that ambitious campaign so soon forgotten.
Back in those heady days of hope and anticipation, amid all the noise and distraction, I highlighted the pressing need to not forget the changing ocean. I invited governments to acknowledge the impact of climate change on the ocean and find ways to proactively ensure its resilience. Longing for a rapid onset of reform, I called for an âocean of change’ that would finally recognise the centrality and criticality of ocean health to both mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change.
Alas, my hopes for a tsunami of reform â while not altogether in vain â were far from realised. Now in 2014, as ambition and hope again escalate in the recycled world of climate change negotiations, like an undefeatable phoenix the plight of the world’s coasts and oceans must once again be thrust to the fore to ensure their centrality in the solution is not overlooked.
Key among the myriad of challenges facing the marine environment is the slow-onset phenomenon known as ocean acidification. As atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration climbs, ocean pH falls. It’s that simple. Falling pH in turn makes it harder for marine life to capture carbonates and fix calcium to build shells and skeletons. It may be a death sentence for many species, particularly those where calcification is a part of their early life cycle. The impacts of ocean acidification will be felt at the microscopic scale, e.g. calcifying plankton, through to the habitat scale, e.g. coral reefs. The implications for the marine food webs and the provision of ecosystem services are potentially catastrophic with extinctions in the next 50-200 years being a very realistic scenario.
Clearly, more and accelerated science is urgently needed. In this regard, I am pleased to report that the Environment Laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Monaco are making this issue a focus of their work, using for example, radio-isotopes of calcium to better understand the past, present and future impacts of ocean acidification. This includes observing physiological and ecological effects under different climate change scenarios. In an effort to improve collaboration and shared learning, the laboratories operate the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC). This is currently funded by the Peaceful Uses Initiative of the IAEA; however the urgent need for expanded research, data generation and knowledge products far outweighs the resources that are currently available.
The challenge of addressing ocean acidification is a cross-cutting one, relevant to the three dimensions of the ongoing climate change negotiations: mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage.
Read more here
The Daily World, April 10th, 2014. By Brionna Friedrich
A workshop Tuesday on ocean acidification and rising sea levels offered a peek into Grays Harborâs potential future, and aimed to start a conversation about turning the challenges of climate change into opportunities.
Brad Warren, director of Global Ocean Health, said he hopes to change the way people think about climate change.
âThe language is loss, âWeâre going to lose this much land,â â Warren said. âWell, if you look at this from the ocean point of view, which is where a fair number of people around here make a living, thereâs going to be a fair number of opportunities there.â
That change may prove to be a challenge of its own. About 30 people attended the workshop, mostly agency officials joined by a few interested residents and local policymakers. Nearly all had ideas, concerns and questions about climate change, but few were ready to focus on the suggestion of creating new industries, like harvesting underwater plants.
âItâs a beginning. And thatâs probably enough,â Warren said. âIt will be really interesting to come back and track this conversation as it matures over time. I think itâs really clear that people are ready to think hard about sea level rise, and thatâs pretty complicated by itself. And thereâs a lot of resistance to thinking about how it interacts with another complicated processâ like ocean acidification.
Todd Sandell of the Wild Fish Conservancy offered one tool in increasing that understanding locally. He and Andrew McAninch were initially only researching data on juvenile salmon habitat in the Grays Harbor area.
âIt became rapidly apparent ⌠that the elephant in the room that people werenât really talking about is sea level rise,â Sandell said. âThatâs going to undermine a lot of the work thatâs been done over past decades, putting in tide gates and things like that.â
In 2012, the conservancy used lidar data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build a better model of what climate change could look like on the Harbor.
Sandell and McAninch modeled out to 2100. Compared to Grays Harbor in 1981, when modeling started, the 2100 Grays Harbor will lose 83 percent of its mud flats, have 2.4 times the salt marsh and six times as much irregularly flooded marsh area. Traditional marsh will be 26 times larger.
Forested swamp land showed a 97 percent reduction as a result of sea level rise, Sandell said. Goose and Sand islands would be completely underwater.
Sandell said as salt water penetrates deeper and deeper into the Harbor and into the sloughs, trees may die because they canât tolerate the salinity. That may lead to further collapse during flooding.
In Willapa Harbor, Sandell said the numerous dikes might lead to good habitats for various sea creatures that like shallow water for about 25 years. After that, he said, the dikes will create more problems than they solve.
âThatâs one of the reasons you canât just build a bunch of dikes and say, âWe wonât move an inch,â â Sandell said. âI wouldnât want to fight the ocean that much.â
One of the challenges in getting a clear picture of what the Twin Harbors might look like with rising oceans is limited by data. Scientists donât have a clear picture of what the underwater landscape looks like.
Sandell said the model they used has a vertical error of one to three meters, meaning the elevations they used for their modeling could have some significant variation from where the ground actually is. That translates to some potentially significant differences in the horizontal borders they project. Still, itâs a significant improvement in accuracy over previous models.
Getting clearer and clearer pictures of whatâs happening to the habitat around us is the only way weâll ever start to cope with the many and varied impacts of climate change, Warren said.
âI thought a really important thing somebody brought up today is that the perception of urgency is not really there, around either sea level rise or ocean acidification,â Warren said. âIn order to get county governments to address this issue, when they canât see their own interests at risk now, itâs a really important challenge. I would argue that the challenge there is not that there is no change affecting their interests, nor that that change is not urgent. Itâs that we donât have the observing systems in place to be able to see whatâs happening to us.â
Coastline changes may actually present more opportunity for burying carbon.
About 0.5 percent of ocean area roughly matches the carbon absorption of all the worldâs forests. Salt marsh buries 10 times as much carbon per acre every year than a Brazilian rainforest, Warren said.
In Asia, harvesting underwater plants that thrive in acidic water is already a $7 billion per year industry, cleaning the water at the same time.
With better information, policy makers will be able to take advantage of opportunities like that, using better planning for coastlines and flood plains.
âPeople are really intelligent when they can see whatâs happening to them. Weâre not very intelligent when we canât see,â he added.
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The Daily World, April 5th, 2014. By Brionna Friedrich
The frightening impacts of a changing climate are sometimes unavoidable, but an upcoming workshop takes a proactive look at how to cope with changing coastlines and ocean chemistry.
âIf we can snatch opportunity out of the jaws of climate change, weâll be doing a smart thing,â said Eric Swenson, communications and outreach director of Global Ocean Health. âThatâs a real message I hope resonates and people can act on. Can we benefit from the coming circumstances?â
The non-profit initiative focuses on the impacts of ocean acidification, the absorption of carbon dioxide into ocean waters, which is already impacting local industries like shellfish growers.
It specifically works with seafood producers and coastal communities on options for adaptation.
The free workshop, set for Tuesday in the Rotary Log Pavilion in Aberdeen, will connect climate change and ocean acidification experts with local and regional policymakers and the general public.
The morning session, from 9 a.m. to noon, will feature speakers on changing aquaculture and how marine plants and grasses can help absorb CO2.
Stephen Crooks, climate change program director for Environmental Services Associates, has recently briefed the White House and the United Nations on the impacts of estuary restoration, Swenson said. âNow heâll be doing a briefing for the Washington coast in Aberdeen,â he said. âWeâve got some actual world-class folks on the agenda.â
Marine and coastal vegetation provides opportunities, from contributions to overall estuary health to a possible commercial enterprise, harvesting food and biofuel.
âThis isnât pie-in-the-sky, people are doing this and making money at it in Asia,â Swenson said.
It could also provide a tool for shellfish farmers. Acidic ocean waters can decimate delicate oyster larvae.
âIf you can just move the meter a point or two in some key areas, itâs the difference between life and death,â Swenson said.
âThereâs a fair amount of research that shows that when shellfish and seagrasses co-exist â the right kind of seagrasses â itâs to the benefit of both,â he continued.
âWe will be looking at how plants sequester the carbon. The salt marsh plants, for instance, do a job thatâs about five times as effective as a tropical forest, so photosynthesis can really be made to work for us.â
A free lunch will be offered before the afternoon session, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., which will discuss local planning and policy processes that can help in preparation for a changing coastline.
âWeâre bringing (ocean acidificaton) into a wider context of what the coast is going to look at in 20, 30 or 40 or more years, and itâs going to be very different than what it is now,â Swenson said. âBy trying to consider what the coastline is going to look like with the higher sea, we may be able to shelter shellfish, we may be able to protect our estuaries, which are such nurseries for a variety of sea life.â
âIf we learn to plan for it well, sea level rise might be more than just a problem â which it certainly will be â but an opportunity,â Global Ocean Health Director Brad Warren wrote in a press release. âHigher water will make more room for estuarine ecosystems that can sometimes chemically shelter vulnerable larvae from corrosive waters. It wonât be a smooth transition, but sea level rise may open up new areas for farming shellfish and marketable marine macroalgae. It will increase coastal habitats that support hunting and fishing and expand the nursery grounds that support most of the worldâs seafood supply.â
Some basic understanding of ocean acidification will help for those who attend the workshop, Swenson said, but scientific expertise isnât a requirement.
âI think people who have at least a fundamental grasp of what weâre talking about will be better served by the meeting, but it is designed to be open to the public, free of charge, with that free lunch included, in an attempt to draw in people who want to learn more about this,â Swenson said.
The Rotary Log Pavilion is located at 1401 Sargent Blvd. in Aberdeen. No registration is required for the workshop.
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