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Is algae bloom taken into account as CO2 sink?

In this article, authors emphasize that australian bush fires caused a phytoplancton"...which sucked up carbon equivalent to as much as 95% of the emissions from the fires...".

Does En-ROADS take into account algae/phytoplancton as a carbon removal item? 

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Hi Mauro,

Great question! En-ROADS does  not currently include the effects of wildfires or carbon dioxide removal  from ocean fertilization (whether from wildfires or intentional human  activity). You can explore 5 different methods of technological carbon  removal in En-ROADS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS),  direct air capture, enhanced mineralization, biochar, and agricultural  soil carbon sequestration), in addition to afforestation. We take our  estimates for the potential of these different methods from the 2018 Royal Society Report on Greenhouse Gas Removal (https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/greenhouse-gas-removal/royal-society-greenhouse-gas-removal-report-2018.pdf).  The report also evaluates intentional ocean fertilization from  nitrate/phosphate or iron. Similar to the article you posted, the report  notes that there is a great deal of uncertainty about what happens to  the carbon taken up by the phytoplankton, and if it is sequestered in  the deep ocean, how long it would stay there. 

We continually update En-ROADS as we evaluate the latest research, and I'll add your question to our feature requests.

All the best,
Janet
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