February 20, 2026 — Science has made it clear: The prospect of heat waves without end, increasingly destructive floods, relentless drought, rapidly rising sea levels, and the risk of “point of no return” tipping points require humanity to swiftly stop burning fossil fuels to avoid catastrophe.
But with political will and action lagging, some researchers say now is the time to evaluate the safety and feasibility of geoengineering. These are a suite of proposed technologies that could potentially delay the worst warming or sequester carbon, thus buying civilization time as it struggles to slash fossil fuel emissions.
One place scientists are looking for geoengineering solutions is the world’s oceans, which store vast amounts of carbon, including about a quarter of anthropogenic emissions. Some researchers are especially interested in a set of geoengineering methods collectively dubbed marine carbon dioxide storage (mCDR). Still others are looking at ways to artificially cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight into space, especially above oceans.
One major concern with all these untried technologies is that, if widely implemented, they could profoundly impact marine ecosystems, says Kelsey Roberts, a research associate at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in the U.S.
In a recent Reviews of Geophysics paper, Roberts and co-authors examined eight geoengineering interventions most likely to directly impact marine ecosystems, identifying knowledge gaps and risks.
“If we implement some of these insane science fiction-sounding technologies, what would happen to the fish? What would happen to the megafauna … and particularly, [what’s] the importance for global food security?” Roberts asks.