The Climate Challenge
Ocean Warming
Estimates indicate that the ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the Earth’s warming from CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
Carbon Emissions
With CO2 levels now at 430ppm and rising, the scientific reality is that we have already reached 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial and therefore goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord need to be revised. Dr. Jim Hansen pegs climate sensitivity at 4.5 degrees C for each doubling of CO2 - meaning a reasonable new goal is to keep warming less than 1.5 degrees above today's (2026) baseline. This will require massive removal of existing CO2 together with rapid decarbonization of the global economy.
Sea Life Decline
Recent scientific studies show a nearly 50% decline in marine life populations between 1970 and 2012. This is due to several factors including ocean warming, as rising ocean temperatures disrupt the ocean’s food chain.
The Sea-Up Solution
Sea Upwelling
Upwelling is the natural process that delivers deeper cold water which cools the sunlit surface ocean, triggering changes in solubility to enable transfer of more CO2 into the ocean. This process is "abiotic" - happens quickly - is permanent - and accounts for about 70% of the CO2 removed from the atmosphere into the ocean. It is separate from the better-known biological carbon exchange due to growth of phytoplankton - responsible for the remaining 30% uptake of CO2 into the ocean. An important co-benefit from growing more phytoplankton is to restore the primary ocean food chain supporting all higher trophic species - from fish to whales, seabirds to seals!
SeaCool Ocean Cooling System (SOCS)
Each SOCS 1.9m diameter flexible tube extends to 450m depth, tapping into colder, lower salinity water. When that water is brought up to the surface inside the tube, it gets warmer but retains the lower salinity, making it less dense than ambient surface seawater. This establishes a density-driven upwelling akin to the Stommel perpetual salt fountain (Stommel et al "An oceanographical curiosity: the perpetual salt fountain" Deep Sea Research (1953), Volume 3, Issue 2, p. 152-153.
This phenomenum remained in the background until Dr Jost Kemper from GEOMAR-Kiel developed a new analysis in 2025: Kemper et al “On the potential of Stommel’s perpetual salt fountain for artificial upwelling”. (Env. Res. Ltr.).
Separately, Dr. Malte Jurchott also from GEOMAR-Kiel evaluated upwelling in his 2025 paper: Jurchott et al "Direct cooling effect of artificial upwelling dominates over its marine carbon dioxide removal potential” (Env. Res. Ltr.).
These two scientific discoveries, in combination, form the basis for SOCS - establishing density-driven upwelling of deep water to cool the surface ocean and trigger both abiotic (70%) and biological (30%) drawdown of atmospheric CO2 as a powerful new climate mitigation technology.
SOCS Plan
Each SOCS selling for $35,000 is deployed from small boats (including off-duty fishing boats) and once primed is released to drift slowly with the deep currents across the open ocean far from land. The cooling effect on the upper ocean averages about 0.25 degrees C, a mild but persistent benefit to the ocean ecosystem and earth's climate.
SOCS Support
Data
We install GPS and AIS (automated identification system) on each SOCS to ensure there is no risk to ocean-going vessels.
SOCS Technology
SOCS delivers deep, cold, higher-nutrient water to the surface, providing cooling while helping remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
About Us
Sea-Up is a Delaware C-corp (2024), building on 20+ years of ocean engineering through Atmocean (2006–2023) and Ocean-Based Climate Solutions (2018–2023).
Funding to date:
•Atmocean: $2.5M
•Ocean-Based: $1.5M
•Sea-Up: $250k.
Founder/Managing Director: Philip Kithil, supported by a team of engineers, scientists, and operators
Selected experience:
•AMETSOC presentation (2006) – hurricane mitigation
•Discovery Channel feature (2008)
•Multi-site ocean research permits: CA, HI, OR, Peru, Newfoundland, Canary Islands
•Oregon Wave Energy Trust testing (2011–12)
•EU “Ocean ART-UP” trials with GEOMAR-Kiel (2022) funded by Grantham Foundation.
Next Steps
•16-unit SOCS field validation
•Abiotic MRV: ~$0.5–0.7M
Contact
Philip Kithil
phil@sea-up.life
+1-505-231-7508
www.sea-up.life
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Reach out to us to learn more about our technology and how to support SOCS.
