Ocean fertilization and climate

Authors

  • Antoni Rosell Melé Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) / Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • Alfredo Martínez Garcia ETH Zürich

Keywords:

Carbon dioxide, iron, fertilization, climate, oceans, nutrients, mitigation.

Abstract

Artificial iron fertilization of the oceans has been proposed as one of the options to mitigate the effects of anthropogenic global warming. The aim is to enhance the role of the ocean as the Earth’s major carbon sink in decadal to centennial timescales. Research on paleoclimate archives and in situ iron fertilization from ships have shown that the input of iron to the
oceans in regions where phytoplankton primary productivity is limited by this nutrient may sometimes increase the export of
carbon, and decrease the surface ocean CO2 partial pressure, and thus atmospheric CO2. However, artificial iron fertilization
does not always bring about deep-ocean carbon sequestration and may lead to a number of side effects whose real magnitude
is yet unknown. These effects include eutrophication and the increase of anoxic zones, changes in pH and in the natural global distribution of nutrients, changes in the structure and composition of ecosystems, and the generation of climate-influencing gases. Consequently, the scientific community does not view iron fertilization as a valid climate mitigation strategy, given the existing scientific uncertainties and possibly unacceptable environmental and financial costs.

Keywords: Carbon dioxide, iron, fertilization, climate, oceans, nutrients, mitigation.

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Issue

No. 11 (2012)

Section

Articles

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