Major Geo Engineering Experiment Draws Criticism
German-Indian Ocean Seeding Project 'Risky' Say Environmental Groups
Mar 1, 2009
A joint German-Indian scientific project is currently conducting an iron filing seeding experiment in the Southern Ocean northeast of the South Georgia islands in an attempt to encourage the absorption of climate-change -causing CO2. The project has drawn deep criticism from environment groups who contend that not only has not enough research has been done on the efficacy of the geo-engineering project but also that the result will be disastrous for the marine ecosystem.
The researchers hope the iron will encourage the growth of phytoplankton which will absorb more CO2 from the air during their lifetime, then sink to the seabed once dead, theoretically providing a means of storing carbon.
Polastern
The German oceanographic ship Polastern is the vessel conducting the experiment, known as Lohafex, until the middle of March, 2009 during which time it will mixing a total of twenty tonnes of iron sulfate over an area of 200 square kilometers, reports IPS news agency.
The project is being carried out by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, with assistance from the National Oceanography Institute of India.
Increase in Plankton
The scientific teams have already noted how the experiment has encouraged the growth of a large amount of plankton in the test area. Speaking to DPA news agency on February 27, 2009 Ulrich Bathmann, head of bioscience at the Alfred Wegener Polar and Oceanography Institute, said the scientists had noticed a considerable population increase, which he described as "surprising."
"After just four days, the team observed a significant increase in algae," said Bathmann. "It was a surprise that they reproduced so quickly." However Bathmann said most of the increase was restricted to one type of plankton -- known as haptophytes -- with "...other algae types barely increasing or did not increase at all," he said.
He admitted the early results "...would be an argument against large-scale commercial iron fertilization, since the effects are not calculable in advance."
International Environmental Criticism
The method ocean seeding as a means to absorb more of the world's harmful carbon emissions has been slammed by some conservation groups who consider the technology ineffective, untested and likely to cause great damage to delicate marine ecosystems.
Speaking to Tierramérica in a February 27, 2009 interview, Stephan Lutter, of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) summed this argument up by saying: "The absorption of carbon dioxide through the activation of algae growth in the sea does not constitute an effective method to fight climate change and, furthermore, it involves great environmental risks."
"The sea cannot be turned into a bio-reactor," he added.
In a strongly-worded article published in the February 2009 Ecologist magazine, Jim Thomas of the environmental organization ETC Group, accused the German-Indian team of dismissing the existing scientific knowledge about ocean seeding and ignoring the pleas of the German environment minister who requested a halt to the experiment.
"The science suggests not only that ocean fertilization is ineffective at mitigating climate change, but also that artificially messing with marine ecosystems this way might lead to reduced oxygen in the water, the growth of toxic algae species and even more damaging greenhouse gases," said Thomas.
"If you want to see how fertilizing our already stressed oceans can go badly wrong, check out the vast dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, where nitrogen fertilizer runoff has already done what the geo-engineers are hoping to mimic."
Key Role
However the Lohafex team have backed the experiment which has been seeding the Southern Ocean since January 7, 2009. The Lohafex website claims the results of the iron experiment will be of considerable use to climate scientists and ocean researchers.
"The results of LOHAFEX will be of great interest to both ocean ecologists and geochemists because the minute, unicellular algae suspended in the sunlit surface layer known as phytoplankton not only provide the food sustaining all oceanic life but also play a key role in regulating concentrations of the greenhouse gas CO2 in the atmosphere," said the Lohafex statement.
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