Ocean Iron Fertilization (With some modification.)

Cid_Yama

I believe we have part of a solution.

Ocean Iron Fertilization (With some modification.)

link

Something has to be done immediately and this has the least potential for harm and could provide a food source to help revive the ocean food chain.

Fears over deep ocean anoxia could be alleviated by denying carbon credits and requiring them to harvest for biofuel production to make their money. This would provide a better source for biofuel production than agricultural products and alleviate world food shortages. Bloom cycle runs 60-90 days. Try to beat that with a land crop! and you don't have to deplete water resources.)

This would change it to recycling rather than sequestration but would be effective. Some sequestering would take place anyway.

No subsides. There's enough to be made without it. Put the Capitalists to work for a good cause for a change. We don't want this to be just another way to fleece the people. The profit has to come from the doing.

One problem.

Nearly 200 countries imposed a moratorium on 'eco-hacking' the oceans last week, putting the fortunes of several ocean iron fertilization (OIF) companies in jeopardy.

The ban occurred at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, where countries discussed the prospect of geo-engineering – using large-scale scientific projects to try and avert global warming.

OIF is one method that private companies had been exploring. It involves seeding the oceans with iron or other particles that would encourage phytoplankton growth.

As the phytoplankton die and fall to the sea floor, companies such as Climos claim that they would take carbon dioxide with them, sequestering it on the ocean floor. Climos is one of several firms hoping to pursue OIF commercially.

However, environmentalists have repeatedly raised concerns that the practice could disrupt delicate marine ecosystems and have questioned whether the process will provide a safe and effective means of sequestering carbon dioxide.

Now 191 countries concerned about the effects of the activity have imposed a ban on everything but small-scale scientific OIF studies, said Jim Thomas, a researcher for environmental group ETC.

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2217956/controversial-ocean-carbon
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In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

It riles them to believe that you perceive the webs they weave. - Moody Blues

mlit

I'm all for doing anything that could assist with problems we face. But we must make sure that we are not doing more harm than good.

What if the bloom that consumes a large amount of co2 ends up releasing methane or damaging the environment in other ways?

I'm not saying it is wrong, but we must make sure it is right before we wait 5 years and find out we've been causing more harm than good.
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An Optimist is eventually wrong, A Pessimist is eventually right.

Cid_Yama

Under normal circumstances I would agree with you.

Unfortunately, we are on the verge of a catastrophic release of methane from subsea coastal deposits in the arctic. We are within 1-1.5 degrees C of this release.

Once it begins it will cascade and it will be game over.

Truly, I don't think we have a chance in hell of stopping it, but this is as close to a solution as I have found where we already have the means to implement it immediately.

If we wait even a year it will be too late, if it's not already.
_________________
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

It riles them to believe that you perceive the webs they weave. - Moody Blues

truecougarblue · Heavy Crude Joined: Dec 21, 2005 Posts: 473

There has also been research that suggests that this could increase transpiration, which in turn would increase water vapor in the atmosphere, which could lead to greater amounts of rainfall.

I think California should be taking a good hard look at this as part of a long term solution to drought issues.

BTW, where do you get the iron? Shredded SUVs of course!
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Cougar

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." - Brigham Young

Cid_Yama

Yes, and the cloud cover created will reflect sunlight and cool the planet.

Little further scientific discussion of this issue was recorded until the 1980s, when oceanographer John Martin renewed controversy on the topic with his marine water nutrient analyses. His studies indicated it was indeed a scarcity of iron micronutrient that was limiting phytoplankton growth and overall productivity in these "desolate" regions, which came to be called "High Nutrient, Low Chlorophyll" (HNLC) zones. [2]

Martin's famous 1991 quip at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, "Give me a half a tanker of iron and I will give you another ice age"[3][2], drove a decade of research whose findings suggested that iron deficiency was not merely impacting ocean ecosystems, it also offered a key to mitigating climate change as well.

Martin hypothesized that increasing phytoplankton photosynthesis could slow or even reverse global warming by sequestering enormous volumes of CO2 in the sea.

He died shortly thereafter during preparations for Ironex I [4], a proof of concept research voyage, which was successfully carried out near the Galapagos Islands in 1993 by his colleagues at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories[2]. Since then 9 other international ocean trials have confirmed the iron fertilization effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization
_________________
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

It riles them to believe that you perceive the webs they weave. - Moody Blues