Saving the Earth’s Natural Poseidon, Coral

23 min readMay 5, 2022

Written in collaboration with Janvi Budhraja, Sharana Sabesan, Anya Mathur and Maahi Patel.

Coral Reefs are dying, which will lead us to doom.

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the sea and thermostats of the planet. They allow the ocean to absorb and sequester most of the CO2 that we’ve been shamelessly emitting into the atmosphere.

So would happen if coral reefs disappear?

A domino effect of mass destruction; we would have an overwhelming amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, the world would get warmer and lose cloud cover, sea levels would rise and small islands would start to disappear, waves would get 97% stronger during storm surges, the water would start to creep up our coasts before we realise, the weather would get increasingly violent, 25% of marine life would be in jeopardy, the oceans natural processes would get severely imbalanced, we would lose 2.7 trillion dollars in ecosystem service value, food security would be greatly threatened for over 1 billion people, we would lose the “medicine cabinet of the 21st century”, the list of consequences doesn’t seem to end.

The scary part?

Coral reefs are dying.

Abstract

Coral ecosystems are a big support for the the ocean’s ability to efficiently take in, recycle and/or sink up to one-third of the CO2 in the atmosphere. Since we emit 37 billion tons of CO2 annually as of 2022, coral are vital to our planet’s Carbon Cycle. The carbon cycle is the process of carbon moving and getting stored at the bottom of the oceans by ecological proccess systemized through corals.

The current problem at hand is the 33% of all reef-building corals are threatened and/or dying. 50% of all coral have already died.

Under normal circumstances, the ocean has a natural process to keep the pH of the seawater neutral, and coral ecosystems have a natural defense against thermal/UV radiation stress. However, the amount of CO2 we have been pumping into the air is unnatural and has caused a disbalance in the natural feedback loops that maintain equilibrium. This has resulted in an excess amount of Hydrogen in the seawater and not enough carbonate ions to balance it out which lowers the pH level of the ocean, continuing to increase acidity to dangerous levels. Coral and other organisms that live within the ocean produce DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide), a chemical that helps to form clouds to reflect the sunlight and keep the regional climate cooler. These organisms stop emitting DMS and instead hold onto it as a heat protectant in dire situations. The acidification along with the increased temperatures from global warming has caused coral reefs to die out in some areas and to be in hazardous situations since they are not able to recover or protect themselves naturally.

The ideal solution would be for coral reefs to be able to recover and keep functioning as they do since they play the most essential role in keeping the ocean, and over 1 billion humans, safe. Poseidon intends to kickstart the natural processes of the ocean that keep coral healthy and alive through a two step solution.

Artificial coral that alkalinizes and increases the pH of the seawater thus reducing acidity.
Using DMS to create clouds to reflect sunlight and therefore cool the temperature of a region for specific coral.

Table of Contents
1. The Problem
a. Background Knowledge of The Carbon Process via Biological Pumps
b. Ocean Acidification
c. Rising Temperatures

2. The Solution
a. Deacidifying Corals Environments with Artificial Coral
b. Lowering the Temperature of Corals Environments with Geoengineered Clouds

3. Deployment Plan
a. Technical Aspects
b. Economics

4. Conclusion

The Problem

Background Knowledge of the Carbon Process via Biological Pumps

A carbon sink is an environment that has the capability to absorb and sequester carbon. The ocean acts as the biggest carbon sink in the world!

How?

It goes through the carbon process in the ocean and ultimately gets sedimented securely on the seafloor.

There are several parts to the carbon process that occurs.

First, the CO2 absorbed by the ocean diffuses throughout the upper portion of the ocean.
Next, plants take in CO2 for photosynthesis and release oxygen for the animals who need it. Marine organisms, like coral reefs, also use CO2 to create outer shells made of calcium carbonate to protect themselves. The carbon stored in marine ecosystems is called blue carbon. Blue carbon makes up around 50% of the CO2 sequestered by the ocean.
Some of the carbon that does not get taken in by the plants fall down to the seafloor as “marine snow”. Although 50 gigatons of carbon are consumed by the ocean, 0.2 of that carbon ends up in the deep ocean, where it sediments into the ground.
Then, animals consume those plants and the carbon gets transferred into their bodies. This loops through the food chain where the consumers get eaten and so forth. When we reach the top of the chain or when animals die, their bodies sink to the bottom of the seafloor and take the carbon inside with them. These carcasses get sedimented over time or get eaten by deep-sea animals that stay in the deep sea. This is what happens to around the other 50% of CO2 sequestered by the ocean.

It's very important to note that the key factor in the success of this carbon sink is the ecosystems that act as the biological pumps. These ecosystems are mainly protected and housed by coral reefs. As mentioned previously, coral reefs support more than 25% of all marine life, coral also mainly live in the upper and middle oceans which is where the formation of blue carbon + predation/consumption occurs. So, most of the marine life that coral protects make up the ecosystems that run the carbon process.

Coral reefs are the key to making sure that the ocean is properly processing the massive amounts of CO2 it absorbs.

Over geological time more than 90 percent of the world’s carbon has settled into the deep ocean. In just the last decade we’ve put out 40 gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere, that's equivalent to 252 million blue whales. However, carbon uptake by the ocean and these sinking processes are slowing down and are facing a severe threat as coral reefs are dying.

Intro to Ocean Acidification and Rising Temperatures

Nature has and uses many feedback loops to ensure equilibrium, for example, the carbon process and biological pumps. When these feedback loops are thrown out of harmony, it can have a nasty effect on the things involved in those processes. Some processes also work with other processes. In this case, the carbon cycle works with another process: ocean buffering.

Ocean buffering makes sure that the pH of the ocean stays at a neutral pH, so it’s not too acidic or too alkaline. This is important for the carbon process because we have living organisms that run the biological pump vital to the carbon process, and these organisms are quite sensitive to the pH of seawater.

But we have another process that is vital to the success of the biological pumps, DMS emissions. Some of the main organisms that the biological pump relies on are quite sensitive to temperature and regulate their temperature with DMS emissions. However, DMS emissions slow down when the seawater is too acidic.

We now have two main issues and they both very negatively affect coral reefs. When coral reefs are negatively affected, all of the processes that depend on them get thrown out of balance.

Ocean Acidification

To understand ocean buffering, we need to understand how the acidity rises in the ocean.

First, the CO2 dissolves in the seawater and combines with the H2O to create Carbonic Acid (H2CO3).
This breaks down into Hydrogen atoms and Bicarbonate (HCO3).
That breaks can then break down into Hydrogen atoms and Carbonate ions (CO3).

Hydrogen atoms increase acidity, and carbonate ions increase alkalinity. Alkalinity is the opposite of acidity, it means that we increase the pH instead of lowering it as acidity does.

Ocean buffering is when in the ocean we have hydrogens that bond with carbonate ions and vice versa. This keeps things neutral and makes sure that we don’t have too much alkalinity or acidity.

Ocean acidification is when we have excess hydrogen atoms and not enough carbonate ions to bond with them and buffer the effect.

We have extra hydrogen atoms because we’ve been producing alarming amounts of CO2 at an exponential rate, this means that in general, we have more hydrogen atoms in the ocean because there’s more CO2 dissolving. Usually, we have carbonate ions that exist in the ocean come up from the deep sea, this is called upwelling. Coral, oysters, clams, and other organisms use carbonate ions to grow their shells and thrive. The carbonate ions bond with hydrogen atoms so the seawater remains neutral. But this is where the other issue comes in, rising temperatures. When the ocean is too warm or gets warmer, the upper ocean absorbs most of the heat, and the deep ocean stays colder. Hot water tends to stay up higher and cold water tends to sink down lower. This means that upwelling occurs at far slower rates than the ocean needs. When upwelling is slower, we have fewer carbonate ions available in the upper ocean where we need them most since that’s where CO2 dissolves and produces extra hydrogen atoms.

Ocean Buffering with proper upwelling. The hydrogen atoms are bonding with carbonate ions as they come up from the lower sea to the upper/middle due to upwelling.

Rising Temperatures

The ocean also has processes to maintain its temperature. Or to be more specific, the organisms have processes to make sure that their environment is not too warm/too cold.

DMS, or dimethyl sulfide, is a chemical that when released into the atmosphere, helps the synthesis of clouds. In recent studies, scientists have found coral to have the highest concentrations of DMS than any other organism. Other organisms that emit/have DMS are algae, plankton, and some other marine plants. Symbiotic microalgae live inside the tissues of coral that are in reach of sunlight as their symbiotic nature helps the coral get carbohydrates and oxygen from the algae, while the algae get protection and materials for photosynthesis.

Research has proven that when the microalgae are under thermal stress/UV radiation, the coral reefs produce more DMS. This DMS floats to the surface layer of the seawater and creates a thin film. The wind can then pick up the aerosol-like particles. These particles then attract water vapor and they attract each other to create low-lying clouds. This is a natural defense process that has been proven to cool down the climate regionally.

DMS emissions count for majority of the sulpher clouds above the ocean. They are very important to ensuring the vitality of marine life as coral are very sensitive to temperature changes and if coral are at jeopardy, it puts the whole ecosystem at jeopardy. Other marine organisms can also be very negatively harmed by slightly warmer temperatures. The carbon process also slows down as warmer waters speed up chemical reactions and slow down upwelling. This means that CO2 will dissolve faster so we have more hydrogen and fewer carbonate ions to bond with them.

However, when coral reefs live in a region where ocean acidification and/or warmer temperatures are prominent, they expel their symbiotic algae because the algae start producing oxygen-free radicals which harm the coral. Coral also starts getting weaker and less resilient to disease as temperatures around them rise. When threatened/harmed they release lower concentrations of DMS. The temperature of the seawater around them gets even warmer as clouds are not reflecting the UV radiation and sunlight as much. This means that corals and the ecosystem face even more peril. This whole phenomenon is known as coral bleaching. They turn white as they lose the color they got from algae and their own bodies, hence the name coral bleaching.

98% of the Great Barrier Reef has been affected by coral bleaching due to higher than usual temperatures.

Coral bleaching causes coral mortality, leading to losses of coral cover, dramatic changes to the coral community composition, and rapid reorganization of coral reef fish communities. Over 3351 sites in 81 countries have gone through coral bleaching. One of the most impacted sites was a coral reef in the Caribbean. In 2005, the U.S lost half of it’s coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year due to a massive bleaching event. The warm waters centered around Antilles and caused thermal stress greater from the previous 20 years combined. Not only does coral bleaching impact coral and ecosystems but it affects temperature and nutrients in the area affected.

The Solution

We decided to tackle both ocean acidification and rising seawater temperatures as they both impact each other and the coral reef ecosystems negatively. However, because changing the chemistry and conditions of the entire ocean is not possible, we chose to focus on the areas where threatened/bleached coral resides as these were the most important to make sure that the conditions of the ocean improve naturally. We want to kickstart the ocean's natural processes so it can take care of itself and support the carbon process.

Our company hopes that our solutions will be short-term with long-term effects. We believe that helping the chosen environments adapt will help reinvigorate coral and their ecosystems, thus allowing for further carbon uptake and regulated symptoms of climate change.

Deacidifying Corals Environments with Artificial Coral

The ocean is too acidic because the ocean has excess amounts of hydrogen and not enough carbonate ions to bond with them. But, carbonate ions are not the only chemical capable of helping buffer the ocean. Quite a few chemicals are able to bond with hydrogen and theoretically increase alkalinity, but realistically only a few are able to do so without unintended side effects such as harming marine life or being unstable underwater.

My team and I identified two chemicals fit for the role:

Magnesium Hydroxide (Mg(OH)2)
Forsterite (Mg2SiO4)

Both of these chemicals are great fits as they have similar properties. They are both quite reactive, which means that they readily undergo chemical reactions. As a result, our solution will begin working immediately. They are both also strong bases. This is important because strong bases completely ionize in water and produce OH- ions(hydroxide ions). When the number of hydrogen ions (H+)equals the number of hydroxide ions (OH-), a solution, in this case, the ocean pH, is said to be neutral. OH- ions are known to bond very well with hydrogen atoms. These are both naturally derived from the rock, Olivine, and the process of converting Olivine into Magnesium Hydroxide and Forsterite (also known as the conversion and digestion process) is eco-friendly as there are no direct CO2 emissions produced.

Ocean alkalization is not a new process, but there are several issues with it that we bypass by using artificial coral to induce alkalization.

Usually, chemicals are sprinkled from above the seawater to start the process. This can cause issues and interfere with organisms' lives due to the visibility changing from the chemicals being added to the water.
Many organisms may also start feeding on the added chemicals as they are sprinkled from above and may clump together.
The chemicals might cause alkalinity to spike too high up and have unintended negative consequences.
The chemicals would have to be periodically added to the chosen regions, resulting in potential more CO2 emissions as people have to go there and sprinkle it.
There are often legal issues as it can be classified as “dumping”.

Our solution would gradually leech the chemicals to make sure that alkalization is occurring at a rate where the seawater stays neutral and that area doesn’t get too alkaline at once. It doesn't interfere with marine life as the chosen chemicals are safe for organisms and would slowly seep and dissolve out, instead of being put in at once. We would have low maintenance as we only need to put the structures in once in the chosen regions. Our chosen artificial reef company that would manufacture and deliver the structures creates artificial reefs that last for over 500 years.

We plan to work with ReefBall because they’ve spent 30 years refining the perfect methodology for creating artificial reefs that don’t disbalance the natural ecosystems in any way. This company has helped to restore and protect coral in every continent of the world, they have placed over 1/2 million ReefBalls globally. Using their expertise, the reefballs themselves all need to be specifically designed for the locations they would be put in as each ecosystem is slightly different. The reefballs are made of pH-neutral cement that is made up of different chemicals that create a water lock, the specific formula also needs to be tweaked per the conditions of each chosen location.

Initially, we discovered that ReefBall had been placing structures around mangrove tree roots that slowly seeped out natural fertilizer through tailored cement mixes. After further discussion with the company, we were able to validate that we could use that type of cement in their artificial coral reef structures to gradually seep out the chemicals we chose. The rate at which the chemicals seep out and how much alkalinity would be induced are both to be decided based on the specific conditions we need to cater to. ReefBall has methodologies to help us determine the details in real life as well.

These alkaline-inducing artificial corals would be first tested based on their unique specifications. Not everything that's tested in a controlled environment can mirror what would happen in real life. During testing, the conditions of the seawater around it would be monitored either manually or via IoT-enabled sensors. The reefballs themselves have designed plugs to hold instruments. For the manual tests, reefball teams from around the world, local organizations, and field testers would retrieve sample data from the region if easily accessible. For the IoT monitored tests, the data would auto collect onto the devices, and then either send automatically to the end receiver or have to be manually picked up monthly. The devices themselves would have to be chosen depending on the intention, condition of the region, and other variables, such as temperature or depth, that would affect the device. More details about the necessary testing phase is in the deployment section of this article.

As upwelling has now slowed down and we have excess hydrogen atoms, Poseidon will buffer the ocean in place.

Lowering the Temperature of Corals Environments with Geoengineered Clouds

Coral reefs are very sensitive to the temperature around them. They naturally, defend against heat by emitting DMS which cools down the area they reside in. However, when under life-threatening conditions, the coral holds onto the DMS as a heat protectant, and thus clouds do not form as much over that area. This could be because naturally, the ocean goes through different changes in condition and the coral has adapted to focus on getting through those periods, instead of stopping those conditions for the long run. The situation now is that the ocean is warming up more than ever and there does not seem to be an end in sight. This is why we want to cool down the areas that coral resides in manually for the coral to be able to thrive and keep producing DMS for the betterment of the entire ecosystem. We want to help kickstart the natural process that already exists.

We plan to do so by geo-engineering low-lying clouds made of DMS (Dimethyl sulfide). We would focus on the locations where coral is not used to the warmer waters, as they would be in the most jeopardy and least adapted to the heat change. The clouds would be created by misting regions with DMS so it fogs up right above the seawater, and the DMS can form a thin film on the surface of the seawater where it can then be naturally formed into cloud covers.

Geo-engineering clouds have been an idea that has been around for a while and tested with salt-water sprays. The intention behind having a salt-water mix act as the seeding for the clouds was that the salt particles would hold onto more water vapor, making the clouds thicker, and therefore reflecting more sunlight away from the water. We took this concept but decided to use DMS instead as we already know from recent research that DMS has been successfully seeding most of the sulfur clouds that reside over the ocean. Again, we want to be mimicking the natural processes that already exist so we just kickstart what should be occurring.

One thing to note is that research has shown that copepods get influenced to ingest more microplastics when the DMS lies with the microplastics at the surface of the seawater. Copepods are microorganisms that live in mass quantities throughout the entire ocean. There are copepods that live amongst the microalgae inside the corals tissues. This is only an issue if we put in too much DMS around coral reefs that live very close to the surface of the ocean and the microalgae end up absorbing the microplastics through the copepods. However, we mitage this concern by being picky with our deployment plan.

Deployment Plan

Technical Details

We start off in Sarasota, Florida(where Reefball Headquarters is located), specifically in their 1000 gallon ton coral reef tanks. In these controlled environments, we can test our artificial corals to see if they do indeed have an impact on ocean pH, in turn promoting coral regrowth. We also do not have to worry about unpredictable variables such as storms and cyclones destroying corals. Reefball members can help with monitoring. We can also simulate different ocean climates and conditions in these tanks.

If our corals prove to be successful during the controlled testing phase, we will move to testing in patch reefs (isolated coral reefs). We want to start of in patch reefs because if encounter a setback, we would not damage a large reef system, due to the isolation. We want contingency plans wherever possible to mitgate the risk.

We can start testing in the actual ocean at the Conch patch reef. This reef is located in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary as a “research only zone” near Plantation Key, Monroe County, Florida. The research zone aspect proves to be helpful as we will not have human disturbances, including tourists(going scuba diving or snorkeling). It has an area of 1.6 km in the Atlantic Ocean, with a depth of 45 feet, this is more than enough to avoid surface-level copepod feeding. There is a need for our solution in Florida, meaning if our solution succeeds during the experimentation we would be making an impact as well. 90% of coral cover aka the area occupied by coral has been lost in the Florida Keys due to climate change. Not only that, the declining level of carbonate, due to ocean acidification remains an issue as well as an expected 17 inch sea level rise due to warming sea temperatures in the Keys. We have Reefball’s teams help here to assess the progress of our coral.

The legal aspects also work out well because of the Florida Reef Resilience program which is focusing on bringing state/federal agencies, university and NGOs to improve and sustain coral reef health. Our solution is an effort to restore coral health, hence why we would get permission from the government for testing.

Our next testing location would be the Benares Shoals patch reef located in British Indian Ocean territory. This location is vital as we gain important insight and variety in testing; we need to be testing in different locations so we get to see how the solution works in different climates and conditions. It has an area of 2km with a depth of 15 feet, again copepods are not of concern here because of the depth. The Indian Ocean seems to be especially hard-hit by current climate change issues[ocean acidification + rising sea temperatures]. The pH of Indian Ocean has decreased by 0.11 units, meaning a 34% increase in acidity and a 1 Celsius degree increase in ocean temperature. Although it sounds slight, the overall impact is quite drastic. 68% of the corals around Benares Shoals have been bleached, with 29% dead. There is a dire need change here, thus why we want to prioritize testing here. We would use the IoT enabled sensors or plugs/buoys/other ways of automatic monitoring as ReefBall does not have teams in Benares Shoals.

Benares Shoals is in a legal gray area as BIOT is very strict with testing in its oceans as it is a marine-protected area. Scientific study is encouraged but to observe “undisturbed ecosystems”. But, because this reef is in an area that is not only small and isolated but also suffering from climate change, it would be a valuable place to test and implement our solution in. If we are not able to get a permit, we would alternatively simulate the Benares Sholes environment in a large tank and test there. As mentioned before, we would prefer to test in the real location as a simulated test cannot grasp all the real conditions in the actual ocean.

That’s all for patch reefs. If our solution proves to be successful in both patch reefs, we’d like to move onto a reef which supports larger ecosystems such as the coral atolls (rings of coral encircling a lagoon). Here, we can see if our solution is accepted and assimilated into coral reef ecosystems by the organisms and overall ecosystems living there. Can our corals support an entire ecosystem rather than just supplement them?

Our final experiment will be in Farquhar Group coral atoll. It’s 5 km big and a depth of 48 feet. Once again, this is deep enough so that our solution is not negatively affected by the DMS. It is located in Seychelles, which is in the western Indian Ocean. This is also an area that's under threat and could use a solution fast. Seychelles has begun sinking. The environment and residents are at risk with sea levels rising 2.3 millimeters each year. Ocean acidification has also been found to contaminate Seychelles fresh water source and irrigated crops. The local organizations would help us monitor the solutions as Reefball does not have teams in this area.

In 2021, Seychelles implemented a new coral reef policy around conserving and managing coral, meaning we have legal permission to test out our solution. Locals can help observe Poseidon corals and if they are making an impact. Seychelles is desperate to save its climate, which is why carrying out this experiment will be efficient and lead into the deployment here.

After we have successfully passed our trial and error stage, Poseidon will be officially deployed, starting with the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the largest reefs in the world, home to over 3000 individual reefs, and container of enough blue carbon that is able to absorb 1.8 billion tons of CO2. But the Great Barrier Reef has been facing record-breaking coral death/bleaching rates in the last few decades, so it is of humanity’s utmost priority to save this habitat.

The Great Barrier Reef has an average depth of 35 meters/115 feet. This number expands to 2000 meters/6560 feet to corals farther from the coast, so copepods will not prove to be an issue either.

We’ve chosen 2 places to deploy Poseidon, one in the Northern section of the GBF (Great Barrier Reef), and one in the Central region. These sections contain coral facing the most threat.

Townsville, Queensland.

This is a location in Australia near the center of the Great Barrier Reef. The specific reefs we will be targeting are:

Big Broadhurst Reef
Centipede Reef
Wheeler Reef

2. Cookstown, Queensland.

The second location, also in Australia, is near the northern part of the reef. The specific reefs within this area that we will be targeting are:

Lark Reef
Boulder Reef
Vicki Harriott Reef

Depending on the cloud conditions of each area, we would periodically take a ship/drone/other dispensation option to spray or drizzle the DMS over the region where coral is damaged and unable to cool down their environment. Truth be told, DMS is still a very young area of research, and various experiments would have to be conducted as real locations all have different variables. However, we know that this solution, when deployed and used as intended, would cool down an environment and be a short-term solution for long-term effects as it would help kickstart the natural DMS process since the coral would slowly regain temperature equilibrium when out of the state of panic.

Depositing the DMS in this way is not an issue as sprinkling the alkaline chemicals this way would have been. DMS is colorless and does not cause visual impairments. It is also less dense than water in the liquid form, this means that it will float above the surface of the sea. There are natural DMS films all over the oceans surface anyways, so it would not pose any serious threats. It is a natural process, we just intend to manually kickstart it in places where the process has been falling out of equilibrium; all natural.

An example of a geoengineered cloud effort, except here, they are spraying saltwater. Picture for reference to the deployment process.

Economics

What makes Poseidon scaleable is our powerful economic opportunity.

The first step we take is our investment from Frontier, an advanced market commitment to accelerate carbon removal. Frontier aims to help create a net new carbon removal supply rather than compete over what exists today. In practice, its team of technical and commercial experts facilitates purchases from high-potential carbon removal companies on behalf of buyers. Frontier’s goal over the next nine years is to buy more than one billion dollars of carbon removal to guarantee a future for this market. They have set criteria that outline what a good carbon removal initiative looks like, and who they would fund or help. This is where Poseidon comes into the picture.

“We look for permanent carbon removal solutions that have the potential to be low-cost and high-volume in the future, even if they’re not today,” Frontier.

Here’s how we adhere to these 7 guidelines.

Poseidon is a permanent solution.

We help a major sector of the carbon cycle, coral, and bring them back to life. Since coral supports blue carbon which takes in CO2, when blue carbon takes in carbon, this entire carbon cycle we are aiding will have a better chance of lasting 100–200 million years.

2. Our solutions work in the ocean. It is not constrained by arable land.

3. Our solution is a one-time installation.

This is because we are planting artificial coral which allows real coral reefs to sink carbon continuously. Because of this, we plan to price each carbon ton from 3–6 dollars, making it the average price of a carbon offset. (Pricing varies due to location but will stay below 100$)

4. Just our first location will quadruple Frontier’s Capacity expectations.

Poseidon’s first goal is to restore the Great Barrier Reef as the coral there supports blue carbon which will take in around 2 gigatons of carbon dioxide. By supporting coral reefs, more blue carbon will form and since we plan to deploy this in numerous other locations, we will greatly exceed this constraint.

5. We absorb and reduce carbon.

Frontier wants to reach carbon neutrality or “net-zero” so that any CO2 that is released into the atmosphere is balanced by an equivalent amount being removed, our technology does just that by absorbing it.

6. We create a way for new carbon to be removed.

By supporting coral reefs, we increase the oceans’ ability to take in carbon, eradicating new carbon. Currently, the ocean absorbs 50–80% of CO2, but this number is decreasing fast. We aim to restore and enhance the ocean’s natural ability to take in carbon before it is too late.

7. We have many ways to monitor our solution.

This includes divers from our partner Reeball who will be doing checkups monthly/bimonthly, local efforts, and/or technology such as Iot sensors/smart buoys in the ocean.

8. Safe Chemicals

One of Poseidon’s main principles is to only utilize natural chemicals. Through research and experiments, we have confirmed that they are proven to not have a negative impact on humans or ecosystems.

The second step we take is using Carbon Offsets. As our world is focusing on climate change, many industries are facing pressures and new regulations pushing them to produce fewer emissions. Industries that cannot meet their carbon emission targets right away purchase Carbon Offsets, another form of credit for industries that don’t have realistic alternatives which can produce fewer carbon emissions. A carbon offset is an investment in a project that deals with climate change, specifically relating to counterbalancing the carbon you offset which is exactly what Poseidon does. We absorb the carbon offset by all the sectors responsible for carbon emissions. Since Carbon Offsets are making it easier and more cost-effective for organizations to enable an equivalent reducing activity, making our company’s technology which performs this continuously, and economically scalable. Microsoft, JetBlue, Honeywell, Disney, and many other companies buy carbon offsets to help develop projects in the making such as Poseidon.

Conclusion

Coral reefs, one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet have been developing for five hundred million years, and will almost be extinct in thirty. Once coral reefs disappear, a quarter of the worlds marine species that call these magnificent ecosystems home, will be left homeless, leaving millions of these organisms unable to fend for themselves. This is a catastrophe for not only the underwater habitants of the world, but the ones on land that play a big role in the Carbon Cycle aswell. Carbon dioxide will surround us in place of the 80 percent of oxygen the ocean will stop producing as a result of the corals dying. This doesn’t have to be the world’s near future. Poseidon will restore our oceans natural ability to sink 50–80% of the CO2 in the atmosphere through biological pumps provided by coral reef ecosystems. With our alkaline inducing artificial coral and geo-engineered clouds, we will alleviate climate change by fueling the under water carbon process. Poseidon’s natural technology is here to ensure our planet will thrive and improve for future generations to come.