The new method could help remove a gigaton of carbon dioxide per year.
Some researchers have proposed that we could increase the amount of phytoplankton in the ocean to allow it to pull more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. As phytoplankton thrives in iron-rich areas, small amounts of iron could be added to parts of the ocean to produce a lot more phytoplankton.
Ken Buesseler, a marine radiochemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and a team of scientists investigated the effects of iron fertilization on the world's oceans. They found that the introduction of iron could "alter the flux of carbon to the deep ocean" and that it significantly contributed to the amount of carbon dioxide pulled into the ocean.
Buesseler explained that up to a gigaton of carbon dioxide could be sequestered on a yearly basis using the phytoplankton method — and this, he toldis a "very conservative" estimate. “It will change the types of plants and animals that grow, but that is already happening with the changes in temperature and acidity,” he said.
Iron fertilization could be deployed fairly easily and cheaply using boats that would simply have to tip the iron into specifically selected regions — chosen because they are lacking in iron. The iron would also take effect quickly, as phytoplankton blooms can be observed within 24 hours of iron being added to water.
It's important to note that Buesseler doesn't see iron fertilization as an alternative to ending the fossil fuel industry. In fact, in July last year, scientists from the U.S. Center for International Environmental Lawcarbon capture was a "dangerous distraction" that could be used as an excuse to slow the transition away from fossil fuel consumption.
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