World Body Warns Over Ocean ‘Fertilization’ To Fix Climate Change

I've never even heard of this!

World Body Warns Over Ocean ‘Fertilization’ To Fix Climate Change

LONDON — Countries gathered under an international accord on maritime pollution have warned against offbeat experiments to tackle climate change by sowing the sea with chemicals to help soak up airborne carbon dioxide (CO2).1113 05

Parties to the London Convention and London Protocol declared that they hold authority over such experiments, and “large-scale operations” of this kind “are currently not justified,” according to a statement issued on Monday.

Several controversial experiments have been carried out or are being planned to “fertilize” areas of the sea with iron or urea to see whether this encourages the growth of plankton.

Much of the CO2 emitted by fossil fuels is dissolved by the sea from the atmosphere.

In turn, microscopic marine plants at the sea surface absorb some of the CO2 through photosynthesis. When they die, they fall to the ocean floor, thus potentially storing the carbon for millions of years.

Defenders of fertilization say that carbon pollution is so far out of control that a swift fix is needed to avert catastrophe for the climate system.

By accelerating plankton growth, carbon could be massively sucked out of Earth’s atmosphere, reducing the warming effect of this greenhouse gas, they argue.

But marine biologists and climate scientists say the experiments are hedged with environmental peril, such as the risk that runaway algal growth could starve swathes of the ocean of oxygen.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/13/5193/

http://aslo.org/policy/docs/oceanfertpreamble.pdf

...but who's listening???

rivers. Right where all the DEAD ZONES are.

How's THAT workin' out for us so far????

And fast. This does seem a bit too risky though, damaging the ocean is the last thing we need now. I still support some limited testing though, boosting algae growth could still be useful, if the ecological effects are manageable or possibly even beneficial. Or perhaps it can't really help with global warming because of the effects if done on that scale, but could see a use in areas with low algae populations.

I don't what would actually happen, but that's what science is for. :)


Wasn't there also talk of putting sulfur into the upper atmosphere to cool things down? Anyone know what became of that? Sounds simple enough, and would involve putting an existing waste product to good use.