I don't really know if I believe in this science or that science. Belief in science is such an unfortunate thing. But not as unfortunate as those who act upon their belief systems like those in the Sontaran... err... German-Indian expedition which has been seeding the oceans with iron to induce algae growth to suck in carbon dioxide to counteract global warning to become heroes of the twenty-first century. Fortunately, nature attacked:
Following fertilisation of a 300 sq km patch of ocean, Lohafex, too, saw a burst of algal growth. But within two weeks, the algae were being eaten by tiny creatures called copepods, which were then in turn eaten by amphipods, a larger type of crustacean. The net result was that far less carbon dioxide was absorbed and sent to the sea floor than scientists had anticipated.
Of course, if the result had been more tasty seafood my opinion might have been different.
Comments
Seanie - March 24, 2009 9:48 AM
Ha ha ha! I remember reading about this proposition a year or two ago in Wired Magazine and noting to my wife that apart from stating that CO2 would be absorbed by all of the excessive algal growth, they didn't seem to take their hypthetical dream solution much farther. My thought was, "what about all of that excess "plant" material sinking to the ocean floor when generations upon generations of algae die off. Won't that produce methane through decomposition or some other compound?" Easy seeming solutions to world environmental problems that do not involve changes to current industrial methods are fat-burning-pill pseudoscience that industry is all too willing to fund.
Chris Taylor - March 24, 2009 2:40 PM
Lots and lots of species' juveniles feed on copepods—like herring. And just about everything in the sea eats herring, so theoretically the result will be a small, localised increase in tasty seafood.
But more than likely it just means one more dolphin or shark juvenile will survive to maturity and that will be the end of the localised seafood gravy train.
Seanie - March 24, 2009 3:10 PM
Not to mention the corresponding increase in birthrates in Japanese fishing villages after they harvest the dolphins and shark fins.
Ben (The Tiger) - March 24, 2009 4:31 PM
Nature has a funny sense of humour...