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What action should we take for the effective mitigation of climate change? Measures to avoid greenhouse gas emissions are surely the main priority - but the truth is that in the coming decades, we will also have to remove large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it securely. Can - indeed, should - the ocean aid us in this task? The new World Ocean Review (WOR 8) explores this issue with reference to the oceans' role in the Earth's carbon cycle and looks at the benefits, risks and knowledge gaps around the main marine carbon dioxide removal techniques. Can and should humankind intervene further in the ocean in order to protect the climate? This eighth edition of World Ocean Review provides some answers. Available from today, it can be ordered or downloaded free of charge from https://worldoceanreview.com/en/. In recent decades, the ocean has absorbed and stored around a quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions caused by human activities and has thus done much to slow down climate change. The purpose of marine carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is to support this natural carbon dioxide uptake by the ocean. Researchers are currently engaged in various projects which investigate the feasibility, costs, benefits, risks and sustainability of these CDR techniques. What is lacking, however, is a broad social debate on whether humankind has any right to intervene in ocean processes for the purpose of mitigating climate change, bearing in mind that it will not be possible to predict all the various risks and consequences from the outset. Opponents of ocean-based CDR point to the already parlous state of the world's oceans and the lack of knowledge about the consequences of using CDR. But advocates of CDR insist that effective climate action leaves us no alternative and that by using ocean-based CDR, we can claw back the time we need to develop other options for low-carbon living. In view of the controversy surrounding the issue and the difficult decisions that are likely to arise in the climate process, this eighth edition of World Ocean Review focuses exclusively on carbon dioxide removal (CDR). With input from more than 20 scientists, it describes the urgent need for effective climate action and explains the mechanisms by which the ocean captures carbon dioxide and stores it for long periods. It explores the potential for uptake of carbon dioxide by terrestrial vegetation, discusses why the oceans have become a key focus of the climate debate, and provides a detailed overview of promising ocean-based carbon capture and storage methods: from restoration and expansion of species-rich coastal ecosystems to interventions in marine chemistry (alkalinity enhancement) and carbon storage deep under the ocean floor. And finally, it considers key principles and rules which scientists believe must be put in place if society decides in favour of ocean-based CDR in future. (continues)