Lobsters, warming seas and the hunt for an ocean carbon fix

New England lobsters face rising ocean temperatures and shrinking inshore stocks as scientists test ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) in the Gulf of Maine to boost the ocean’s carbon uptake and study its effects on lobsters and other marine life. The effort, under the LOC-NESS program, comes amid shifting funding—strong private and European backing countered by US cuts—raising questions about ecological risks and the role of geoengineering alongside urgent fossil-fuel reductions.