For iron fertilization forcing, we choose temperature − dust relationships from the high southern latitudes, as the Southern Ocean is the main region where this process is relevant.
Oceaneos makes the case
for iron fertilization of the ocean.
These are places where the ocean chemistry is right
for iron fertilization, that is, where there is available nitrogen as nitrate or ammonia, and phosphorus.
Not exact matches
It remains unclear at this point which particular species bloomed as a result of the HSRC
iron release but the team is sending out
for analysis more than 10,000 water samples, data the HSRC team says it will share as other
iron fertilization experiments have done.
Victor Smetacek, the German oceanographer who led the expedition along with Victor Wajih Naqvi, an Indian geochemist, says that result means that
iron fertilization has a much lower sequestration potential
for atmospheric CO2 and, thus, will play a smaller role in fighting climate change than previously expected.
During her half - hour of interaction with the class, McNutt said, students asked questions ranging from the feasibility of the OTEC, or Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion — a strategy
for harvesting energy from the oceans — to whether deforestation in Africa «might actually have a silver lining if it leads to ocean
iron fertilization.»
Understanding
iron cycling in Antarctic phytoplankton is crucial
for determining whether
iron fertilization can be an effective strategy
for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
It is a plan
for regulating geoengineering schemes classed as solar radiation management rather than carbon dioxide removal, even though ocean
iron fertilization experiments have generated most controversy (6, 7, 12).
However, an «inconvenient truth»
for proponents of ocean
iron fertilization is that stimulation of phytoplankton blooms is only the first step in any successful ocean
fertilization effort.
The water might duck into the thermocline
for a few decades, but it will ultimately resurface and be subject again to photosynthetic plankton and
iron fertilization from falling dust.
The simple fact is that while
iron fertilization experiments have been taken place
for nigh on twenty years thanks to the late John Martin's
iron hypothesis, none of these experiments have lasted long enough or been conducted on a large enough scale to effectively measure the entire life of a pleagic phytoplankton bloom, artificially fertilized or naturally occuring.
GreenSea president Lee Rice says that the company continues to believe «in the long term that
iron fertilization is going to be an extremely valuable technology
for controlling atmospheric carbon.»
-- Southern Ocean
Iron Fertilization Experiment (SOFeX)-- The basics of the most recent expedition — Penny Chisholm's site, which lists many professional papers — Paul Falkowski's article (PDF document)-- DOE article: Climate Change Scenarios Compel Studies of Ocean Carbon Storage — Government site
for carbon sequestration research — An earlier piece Williams wrote on sequestration — Will Ocean
Fertilization To Remove Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere Work?
Kim Stanley Robinson's wildly successful 1993 science fiction trilogy about geo - engineering and terraforming, Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, describes «the
fertilization of the Antarctic Ocean with
iron dust, which was to act as a dietary supplement to phytoplankton» as a cure
for both global warming and dying coral reefs.
Nevertheless, in view of the serious risks we are presently taking with our global climate, I feel that considering
iron fertilization as a possible means
for purposeful co2 sequestration can not be entirely dismissed at this point.»
But Chilean scientists are worried because the organization grew out of a
for - profit company, Oceaneos Environmental Solutions of Vancouver, that has sought to patent
iron -
fertilization technologies.
Following the SOFeX
iron -
fertilization experiment in the Southern Ocean, deep - diving Carbon Explorer floats continuously collected data
for over a year, straight through the Antarctic winter.
A second general method
for cooling the planet involves removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, either via sequestration or CO2 capture, or possibly through ocean
iron fertilization to promote the growth of CO2 - consuming algae.
There is strong evidence
for a tight relation of Southern Ocean
iron fertilization to this record (30, 31).
We deal with
iron fertilization in the context of the Danish Center
for Earth System Science (DCESS) model (41)
for which reduction of high - latitude new production (relative to that which would occur if phytoplankton there could make full use of all available nutrients) is expressed in terms of an efficiency factor (see equation 19 in ref.
1 to bin means and medians using an alternative low - passed filtered, Greenland temperature anomaly time series (SI Materials and Methods) and application of that time series to construct alternative radiative forcing time series, (iv) radiative forcing calculated
for 50 % decrease / increase compared with our standard LGM value (RFLGM = − 0.5 and − 1.5 W ⋅ m − 2), and (v)
iron fertilization forcing calculated
for 50 % decrease / increase of the difference between standard LGM and present - day values (IFLGM = 0.43 and 0.57).
Here we took a different approach by seeking and applying dust deposition observations from hotspots
for dust radiative and
iron fertilization forcing: NH subtropical latitudes and the Southern Ocean.
Since dust radiative and
iron fertilization forcing are mainly concentrated in the NH and the SH, respectively, we use respective NH and SH temperature time series
for this.
This allows us to scale the two records by their respective interglacial levels, combine them to better resolve the Southern Ocean, and use the combined record as our proxy
for glacial / interglacial
iron fertilization forcing.
Shown are (A) dust radiative forcing (RF) anomaly relative to preindustrial and (B)
iron fertilization parameter (IF)
for ocean new production in the DCESS model (41) high - latitude zone.
Comparison with data and data - based reconstructions over the last glacial cycle of a model simulation
for combined dust radiative and
iron fertilization forcing.
While many of the participants raised concerns about the efficacy and safety of large - scale
iron fertilization, others seemed to acknowledge that the urgency of the climate crisis warranted the continuation of carefully designed experiments — pointing out that, if done appropriately, they could provide a win - win
for both scientists and businesses interested in selling carbon offsets.
Other emerging threats include those from
iron and urea
fertilization; other geoengineering schemes,
for example to include pumps to bring colder and deeper waters to the surface, noise which can disrupt marine mammal cycles and may also effect fish behavior disrupting vibration patterns in the water column6.
«There are plenty of ways to do it wrong, but done right, [
iron fertilization] does actually sequester carbon
for hundreds of years in the place that it would ultimately end up anyway,» remarked Andrew Watson, a biogeochemist at the University of East Anglia.
Since plankton account
for 50 % or so of the carbon recycling on the planet (plus permanent carbon sequestration if the
iron fertilization hypothesis is right) doesn't this mean that CO2 - induced acidification would accelerate the rate of CO2 increase in the atmosphere, which would then accelerate the rate of acidification?
(07/18/2012)
For a long time, oceanic
iron fertilization was seen as a promising mechanism to combat global climate change.
Those CDR techniques with the least potential: Biochar («significant doubts» about scope, effectiveness and safety - «substantial research» required to prove effectiveness) and ocean
iron fertilization (not proven to be effective and «high potential
for unintended and undesirable ecological side effects»).