https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024RG000876

*Authors: *Kelsey E. Roberts, Tyler Rohr, Morgan R. Raven, Michael S.
Diamond, Daniele Visioni, Ben Kravitz, Ryan Heneghan, Colleen M. Petrik,
Daniele Bianchi, et al.

First published: *14 January 2026*

https://doi.org/10.1029/2024RG000876

*Abstract*
Rising global temperatures pose significant risks to marine ecosystems,
biodiversity, and fisheries. Recent comprehensive assessments suggest that
large-scale mitigation efforts to limit warming are falling short, and all
feasible future climate projections, including those that represent
optimistic emissions reductions, exceed the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C or 2°
warming targets during this century. While avoiding further CO2 emissions
remains the most effective way to prevent environmental destabilization,
interest is growing in climate interventions—deliberate, large-scale
manipulations of the environment aimed at reducing global warming. These
include carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to reduce atmospheric CO2
concentrations over time, and solar radiation modification (SRM), which
reflects sunlight to lower surface temperatures but does not address root
CO2 causes. The effects of these interventions on marine ecosystems, both
direct and in combination with ongoing climate change, remain highly
uncertain. Given the ocean's central role in regulating Earth's climate and
supporting global food security, understanding these potential effects is
crucial. This review provides an overview of proposed intervention
methodologies for marine CDR and SRM and outlines the potential trade-offs
and knowledge gaps associated with their impacts on marine ecosystems.
Climate interventions have the potential to reduce warming-driven impacts,
but could also alter marine food systems, biodiversity and ecosystem
function. Effects will vary by pathway, scale, and regional context.
Pathway-specific impact assessments are thus crucial to quantify trade-offs
between plausible intervention scenarios as well as to identify their
expected impacts on marine ecosystems in order to prioritize scaling
efforts for low-risk pathways and avoid high-risk scenarios.

*Plain Language Summary*
A rise in global temperatures from 1.5 to 2°C or above historical levels
threatens marine life, ecosystems, biodiversity, and the sustainability of
fisheries. Recent studies highlight that current efforts to keep warming
within critical limits are insufficient, and even optimistic future climate
scenarios predict that the 1.5°C threshold established by the Paris
Agreement will be surpassed. In this context, climate intervention
strategies are being explored as ways to potentially reduce the worsening
effects of climate change and complement, not replace, decarbonization
efforts. These strategies aim to either remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere or reflect sunlight back into space to cool the Earth. While
currently an understudied area of research, these methods could have
profound impacts on the ocean, including changes to sea surface temperature
and nutrient cycling, which in turn affect the abundance, distribution, and
diversity of marine life as well as the human communities that rely on
marine resources. This review synthesizes current research on the climate
intervention strategies that are most likely to have direct impacts on the
marine environment, emphasizing knowledge gaps as they relate to the
potential impacts on marine ecosystems and the need for improved predictive
models.

*Key Points*
Climate intervention research is expanding as current mitigation efforts to
limit warming below crucial targets are falling short

Substantial knowledge gaps exist on the potential impacts of climate
intervention strategies on marine ecological systems

We review the potential impacts of climate intervention on marine
ecosystems, including biotic and abiotic factors

*Source: AGU*

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