While reading the news online, I came across an article by Tim Worstall (http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/07/19/the-cheap-way-to-deal-with-climate-change-iron-fertilisation-of-the-oceans/). The reason why I mention this is because, in my self-appointed role as 'Punisher of Stupid,' it is my duty to do something about things like this. Mr. Worstall advocates dumping iron into the oceans, in order to combat global climate change. I'm guessing what he actually means is to stop the ever changing Ph of the world's oceans, because they suck up a large amount of the carbon pollution we produce. This is important because (if anyone remembers their high-school chemistry) when you add carbon dioxide to water you get carbonic acid. That's why Pepsi and Coca-Cola eat that green junk off your car battery terminals, and the enamel off your teeth.
Anyway, the science behind adding iron to the oceans basically goes like this: you dump iron powder into the oceans, which causes algal blooms, which in turn die off after combining all the iron with carbon dioxide, and then sink to the bottom of the ocean where it will rest for a hundred years or so--so we don't have to worry about it anymore.
Mr. Worstall's reasoning for this particular approach is that we should only "reduce emissions where the costs of doing so are lower than the benefits we gain from having emissions." Here is why he wins the bouquet of dildos: this is the same math that car manufacturers and use to determine whether or not it is cheaper to recall something dangerous, or just pay off a few lawsuits.
He would rather rationalize some monetary expenditure than try to fix the problem.
He also neglects to add that the most carbon we will be able to 'remove' in this fashion is about 1 (that's one) gigaton a year. Unfortunately, we dump about 7 to 8 gigatons of carbon waste into the oceans each year.
Here's another science fun fact that neither he nor the source that he quotes mentions: there's a depth in the ocean called the calcium carbonate compensation depth. This is cool because, if you drop something made of calcium carbonate, say a seashell, into the ocean (way out in the middle, where it's very deep), it will sink for a few weeks and then suddenly disappear. This is because the shell has sunk far enough into the ocean that the pressure upon its' surface is so great that the very molecules it is made of are forced into solution, i.e. forced to become part of the water. Think of it like like when you crack your knuckles, and force the gas bubbles in those synovial joints back into solution with a little 'crack.' Only there's no 'crack' when it happens in the ocean.
Diatom frustules, or the little shells that they are made of, are mostly silicate, so that part goes all the way down to the very bottom of the ocean to form that lunar-surface looking place called the abyssal plain. That substance on the bottom of the ocean, which is mostly diatom frustules, is called melange (it is also composed of other things, like dust from outer space, trash we have thrown into the seas, and lots of other things). These diatom skeletons have lots of uses, like as abrasives in things like toothpaste, or as filters, or as insulation, so they are cool and interesting.
But what happens to all that carbon they grabbed while way up there (4,000 meters or more) above the abyssal plain, at the surface of the ocean? Remember the calcium carbonate compensation depth?
Oops.
This plan would only work in shallow parts of our oceans, and then only minutely. And, at best, all it would do is put an even larger ecological problem in the hands of our grandchildren. And I know, I didn't mention it above, but adding carbon dioxide to the oceans (and thus making them much more acidic) is a bad thing. If you would like to know why, go watch "Soylent Green." It's one of Charlton Heston's better movies, and will explain what poisoning the oceans means to all life on the planet in an much more entertaining way than I can.
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