Ocean-ICU Improving Carbon Understanding

OceanICU将提高我们对海洋C循环的理解。海洋碳循环在调节全球气候方面起着至关重要的作用，吸收了排放到大气中的二氧化碳的约25%，并在海洋内部单独储存了大量的碳，其中大部分是通过一系列被称为生物碳泵的过程。最近的研究表明，生物碳泵功能的复杂程度比以前认为的要高得多，包括更高营养级生物和广泛的鱼类相关过程的重要作用。展望未来，人类将越来越依赖海洋资源，包括捕鱼（蛋白质）、采矿（微量金属）和能源开采（风能）。欧洲绿色协议要求我们制定方法，以气候中立的方式开展这些资源开采活动。这些资源开采活动的后果（例如通过捕鱼或通过工业过程产生悬浮沉积物的生物量去除）不成比例地影响较高的营养水平，这在全球碳循环中至关重要，但人们对此知之甚少。项目成果将有助于填补这些重要的知识空白。

OceanICU will improve our understanding of the Ocean C Cycle. The Ocean carbon cycle plays a crucial role in regulating the global climate, taking up approximately 25% of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere and separately storing massive quantities of carbon in the Ocean interior, much of it via a series of processes known as the biological carbon pump. Recent work suggests a much higher level of complexity in the biological carbon pump functioning than previously thought, including important roles for higher trophic level organisms and a broad range of fish associated processes. Looking to the future, humanity will become increasingly reliant on the Ocean for resources via fishing (protein), mining (trace metals) and energy extraction (wind). The European Green Deal demands that we develop ways to undertake these resource extraction activities in a climate neutral way. The consequences of these resource extraction activities (e.g. biomass removal via fishing or suspended sediment generation via industrial processes) disproportionately impact the higher Trophic levels, which are crucially important in the global carbon cycle but poorly understood. The project results will help fill these important knowledge gaps.