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This is a really good wiki article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization There's a few ke
by civilian 10y ago
This is a really good wiki article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization
There's a few key ideas here:
The limiting factor in plankton growth is iron. So we can hit it with other things, the plankton needs more iron to incorporate into chloroplasts to grow.
Algal/plankton blooms can be toxic from the chemicals produced, but they are usually toxic because they deplete oxygen in the environment. I suspect that this would be manageable in the ocean, since there's constant mixing and the ocean is _big_. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/habharm.html http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/habharm.html
Iron seeding of the ocean already happens, in the form of dust storms blowing onto the ocean. We've been able to see the effects of it, and it does as it says-- it increases plankton life in the ocean.
I think that a lot of posts here are underestimating the size of the ocean or over-estimating the capability of humans. We would have to dump so much iron into the ocean to make the whole thing anoxic. If we did this in a controlled manner (and in small paths, so we wouldn't end up with big un-mixed anoxic patches) then I think this is very reasonable.
All of you should be careful not do have the knee-jerk "nah that sounds crazy!" reaction. This is HN, and you ought to know that the disbelievers don't have a good track record.
- Tloewald 10y agoAlso: it sounds less horrible than pumping sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere.
- Fordrus 10y agoI read in that wiki article that the data from Russ George's efforts discussed in the OP article - that all that data was opened to the public in 2014 - but I can't find the data so far. Do you know where it might be found?
- seanalltogether 10y agoThis is what I could find. http://www.whoi.edu/ocb-fert/page.do?pid=38315 http://www.whoi.edu/ocb-fert/page.do?pid=38315
- aab0 10y agoJust follow the WP links. "Researchers, interested organizations or individuals are welcome to use our scientific data library for legitimate research endeavours. This data is available free of charge, however we do ask that a memorandum of understanding is executed for access privileges to our data. Please send us a message using the Contact Us form and state the nature of your request." http://www.haidasalmonrestoration.com/index.php/science/scientific-data http://www.haidasalmonrestoration.com/index.php/science/scie...
- Fordrus 10y agoWhoops!!! I think I must've opened the page of frenzy of tab-opening, but then either not return to it, or closed it immediately without realizing what it was - that link has been visited, but I clearly didn't check it for the desired content. Thank you! :)