BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 10, 2025
Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will test a strategy this summer to combat climate change by manually raising the alkalinity of ocean water in a small area of the Gulf of Maine. In the largest field test to date, Woods Hole researchers plan to release 16,000 gallons of a liquid sodium hydroxide solution, commonly known as lye or caustic soda, into a 0.2-square-mile (128-acre) area of ocean southeast of Portland called Wilkinson Basin. The high-alkaline solution will dilute quickly but is expected to slightly increase the pH in a tiny area of a global water system that has been gradually becoming more acidic over the last two centuries as a result of human activity. Friends of the Earth US and the Hands Off Mother Earth Alliance continue to oppose the project and “geoengineering” of the oceans on grounds that adding a large amount of a highly caustic solution into the marine environment will be harmful to sea life.