WASHINGTON: Commercial activities that damage sea floors are disrupting the oceans` natural carbon capture capacity, with more research needed on their impact on carbon dioxide absorption, according to a new study on Friday.

Scientists estimate around 30 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released by humans is absorbed by the oceans, playing a crucial role in climate regulation and reducing the rate of global warming.

`There`s a lot of attention now to marine carbon dioxide removal,` said Sebastiaan van de Velde, the lead author of the study published in the journal Science Advances, in an interview.

`But we`re not asking the question, `What are we doing already that`s maybe not helping or reducing the oceans` capacity to absorb CO2?`` he continued. To research this, his team created models to simulate the impacts of bottom trawling and dredging two commercial activities that disrupt the seabed on the oceans` CO2 absorption.

The analyses found multiple ways in which the practices reduce the alkalinity of the water, limiting the amount of carbon dioxide that can be absorbed.-AFP