To clarify my comments, as asked: I don't doubt that the technique is possible, but I am not convinced of its practicality or ecosystem impact. A localized change in albedo may have serious consequences for ecosystems, and the less long lived the bubbles are, the more expensive the process and more severe the local effect at the point of injection will be, as denser plumes of bubbles will be required to give the desired effect on albedo.
I think its a promising idea, but one we can't yet be confident of. I hope that clarifies matters A On 14 Apr 2011 17:16, "Russell Seitz" <[email protected]> wrote: > The ' optical density' to which Andrew Locksley's response refers, ( the > term is scarcely apposite, as half the light is scattered forward) would, > in the case of doubling the water column albedo , reduce the light flux for > photosynthesis by ~ 7%, a small fraction of the attenuation marine biota > experience on cloudy days or when surface reflection of sunlight rises in > consequence of wind-driven whitecaps and the microbubbles they create. > > Many organisms react to such natural changes by swimming up and down, and > few have an optimal photosynthetic compensation depth of zero . I suggest > he read the sections of my paper discussing the possible consequences - > and the need for experiments to quantify them . > > As to his view " that it may just not work! ", the paper's figures, like > the attached video clip, suggest otherwise. As does the mere fact that > natural ocean microbubbles already contribute measurably to Earth's albedo. > > The ecological impacts, energy costs, variability of microbubble lifetime > with natural water surfactancy and other quantitative factors of course all > remain to be discovered. > > It seems apparent from this exchange that the technique's very existence > may require some rethinking of what 'mitigation' means in practice, but > the prime focus of 'bright water ' remains water conservation in man made > bodies of water , not geoengineering in open ecosystems. > > Russell Seitz > > > > - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
