Capturing carbon
Forest and field plants take up carbon dioxide and emit oxygen through photosynthesis, but that's dwarfed by the oceans' hundreds of billions of tons of tiny algae. Their processes for deep-sixing carbon are complex, cryptic, chaotic—and crucial to understand if we're to mitigate or adapt to climate change. A scholar of this deep-sea carbon pump, Skidmore professor Meg Estapa is on a research cruise with NASA scientists this month, and they're sharing their oceanographic adventures online.