5 ms·

Dump them into the ocean? That's a bit of a scary thought. Not only tinkering with the oceans ecological balance, but also the idea of our genetically engineere

by JTon 12y ago

Dump them into the ocean? That's a bit of a scary thought. Not only tinkering with the oceans ecological balance, but also the idea of our genetically engineered plankton spawning out of the control. I'd prefer to keep them in controlled environments.

maxerickson 12y ago
Iron fertilization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization ) is a little less likely to spiral out of control, and once discontinued should stop having an effect in relatively short order. I've brought it up to people and had them say such large scale experiments are too scary to carry out, but we are already engaged in a CO2 experiment of that scale (without much ability to cease the input).
- bduerst 12y ago
  >once discontinued should stop having an effect in relatively short order Not even close. The largest iron fertilization "experiment" to date was done by Russ George with just 100 tonnes off the Pacific coast of Canada in 2012. It's now 2014 and the salmon population has quadrupled from the algal bloom. We don't know what sort of impact iron fertilization at scale will have on the ecosystem.
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Consider that you could have provided more information without trying to pin down what I was thinking (or could've asked what I was thinking). I've tried several different ways to say that, this one seems the least whiny.
    - bduerst 12y ago
      What?
      - maxerickson 12y ago
        "relatively short" is a pretty fuzzy statement, saying it's "Not even close." invites me to try to argue about what I was thinking when I wrote it (ooh fun), and it isn't all that necessary to your point.
        bduerst 12y ago
        Yes it is, but I have a feeling you're still going to be bitter and worm your way into contonuing to patronize.
        maxerickson 12y ago
        I was trying to express frustration (I think unnecessary argumentation often damages discussions here), but I take your point, such things can come across poorly.
aetherson 12y ago
We're geoengineering no matter what we do. Might as well geoengineer in a way that we think has a possibility of success.

by JTon 12y ago

maxerickson 12y ago

Iron fertilization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization ) is a little less likely to spiral out of control, and once discontinued should stop having an effect in relatively short order. I've brought it up to people and had them say such large scale experiments are too scary to carry out, but we are already engaged in a CO2 experiment of that scale (without much ability to cease the input).

bduerst 12y ago
>once discontinued should stop having an effect in relatively short order Not even close. The largest iron fertilization "experiment" to date was done by Russ George with just 100 tonnes off the Pacific coast of Canada in 2012. It's now 2014 and the salmon population has quadrupled from the algal bloom. We don't know what sort of impact iron fertilization at scale will have on the ecosystem.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  Consider that you could have provided more information without trying to pin down what I was thinking (or could've asked what I was thinking). I've tried several different ways to say that, this one seems the least whiny.
  - bduerst 12y ago
    What?
    - maxerickson 12y ago
      "relatively short" is a pretty fuzzy statement, saying it's "Not even close." invites me to try to argue about what I was thinking when I wrote it (ooh fun), and it isn't all that necessary to your point.
      - bduerst 12y ago
        Yes it is, but I have a feeling you're still going to be bitter and worm your way into contonuing to patronize.
        maxerickson 12y ago
        I was trying to express frustration (I think unnecessary argumentation often damages discussions here), but I take your point, such things can come across poorly.

aetherson 12y ago

We're geoengineering no matter what we do. Might as well geoengineer in a way that we think has a possibility of success.