Why dump iron in the oceans? Lessons learned from ocean iron fertilization experiments Ken O. Buesseler Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

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Presentation transcript:

Why dump iron in the oceans? Lessons learned from ocean iron fertilization experiments Ken O. Buesseler Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Global Carbon Cycle human activities release 6.5 billion metric tons C as CO 2 marine biota <1% of terrestrial C stocks marine biota 50% of global primary production deep ocean 50x more C than atmosphere

>500,000 surface CO 2 measurements Ocean acts as both source and sink for CO 2 - Biological pump- Marine plants take up CO 2 - Solubility pump- cold water has higher CO 2 How the ocean “breathes”

The “Biological Pump” Combined biological processes which transfer organic matter and associated elements to depth - pathway for rapid C sequestration Quickly remove C from surface ocean & atm. - turn off bio pump and 200 ppmv increase atm. CO 2

What controls carbon uptake by algae? i.e. primary productivity Light, temperature, mixing Major nutrients (N, P, Silica) Grazing Micro-nutrients (Iron, Zinc) Johnson & Coale

Iron Hypothesis - 40% of ocean “HNLC” - high nutrient, low chlorophyll & low Fe “Give me half a tanker of iron and I’ll give you the next ice age” - J. Martin, 1990 Past climate shows correlations to support - high dust & iron - lower CO 2 & temp.

Just Add Iron ABCnews.com, Amanda Onion 10/11/00 How algae may slow warming By Gareth Cook, Boston Globe Staff, 10/12/2000 Helping ocean algae could beat greenhouse effect LONDON (Reuters), WIRE:10/11/2000 Global Warming NPR Morning Edition- John Nielsen, 10/11/00 Iron-Fed Plankton Absorbs Greenhouse Gases By ANDREW C. REVKIN, NY Times, 0/12/00 Iron May Increase Gas - Eating Algae By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 10/11/00 Oct So, could we add Fe to “fertilize” ocean & thus ameliorate greenhouse CO 2 build-up? 1. Will it work? 2. What are the ecological consequences?

Ocean Fertilization Models - focus on Southern Ocean - high nutrients - low dust, low iron Remove all So. Ocean nitrate Gt C sequestered - Double atmospheric CO 2 = 1000 Gt C so ocean “solves” 10-20% of CO 2 problem - time scale of removal years - lower production in tropics?

If you add iron, you observe more phytoplankton (chlorophyll), but not necessarily enhanced sequestration (biological pump can have low efficiency) Ocean Fertilization Experiments

What are possible ecological consequences? - oxygen depletion - ecological shifts to harmful algae - microbial shifts result in production of other greenhouse gases (methane, nitrous oxide) or DMS (cloud nucleation & aerosol scattering) - disruption/changes to higher trophic levels - many unknowns (scaling; duration; higher trophic levels) Negative impacts- “blue ocean turned green” Positive impacts- enhanced fisheries? - by design, ocean fertilization changes ecology

Commercialization of Ocean Iron Fertilization - here already “One of our eco-solution notions is to create a combined technology/methodology for Ocean Biomass Carbon Sequestration OBCS™” “option to own one ton CO 2 equivalent = $4 (15 tons per US household to offset typical contributions)” Patent applications- Fe nutrient delivery systems; application patterns Field plans- Marshall Islands; Chilean coast; Equatorial Pacific