Hi Greg--Alternatively, brighten the water with nano/micro bubbles, brighten the clouds, and/or use aerosols in troposphere or perhaps lower stratosphere to reduce solar absorption, thus cooling the waters and promoting downwelling. Likely to be a good bit more practical than adding salt, and quite possibly ecologically less damaging of range of approaches.
Mike On 7/29/12 11:52 PM, "Greg Rau" <[email protected]> wrote: > Then there are those who argue physics is the major factor in ocean CO2 > uptake: > http://phys.org/news/2012-07-discovery-carbon-southern-ocean.html > How about salting the Southern Ocean, increasing surface seawater density and > sinking carbon rich water? Possibly less ecologically impactful than iron > addition? > -Greg > > ________________________________________ > From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Andrew Lockley [[email protected]] > Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2012 9:54 AM > To: geoengineering > Subject: [geo] Why OIF (Dr. Margaret Leinen, Kevin Whilden, Dan Whaley, K. > Russell LaMotte) 2009 > > http://www.climos.com/pubs/2009/Climos_Why_OIF-2009-03-12.pdf > > Overview > > The Fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate > Change (IPCC) concluded that ³It is > extremely likely that human activities have exerted a substantial net > warming influence on climate since 1750² > [Solomon et al., 2007], and that this ³is having a discernible effect > on physical and biological systems at the > global scale² [Rosenzweig et al., 2007]. Starting with the Kyoto > Protocol, efforts to mitigate these effects have > focused on reducing carbon emissions. Recent international > discussions focused on long term targets of > about 60-80% reduction in emissions by the year 2050 with the goal of > holding the total warming to 2°C > above pre-industrial temperatures to ³limit the impacts of climate > change and the likelihood of massive > irreversible disruptions of the global ecosystem² [CEC, 2007]. > However, analyses of the proposed emission > reduction frameworks suggest that these targets will be insufficient: > e.g., ³If a 2.0°C warming is to be avoided > [by 2100], direct CO2 capture from the air, together with subsequent > sequestration, would eventually have to > be introduced in addition to sustained 90% global carbon emissions > reductions by 2050²[Weaver et al., 2007]. > Furthermore, new observations show that the climate change impacts are > already greater than expected and > happening more rapidly than predicted [Tin, 2008]. These changes and > the potential for abrupt changes due > to climate feedbacks suggest that it will be necessary to remove > atmospheric CO2 as well as reduce > anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to avoid even > more serious impacts. > It is widely accepted that the terrestrial biological carbon sink can > be enhanced to reduce atmospheric CO2 > through forestation and agriculture practices. However, the deep > ocean is the single largest reservoir of > mobile carbon on the planet, and ocean phytoplankton (microscopic > algae) are responsible for nearly half the > annual CO2 exchange and a majority of all carbon sequestered over > geologic time. > For decades, researchers have studied how the ocean takes up > atmospheric CO2 through the action of > phytoplankton that sequester carbon to the deep ocean as they > continually bloom, die, and sink (a process call > the ³biological pump²). A large body of oceanographic research (e.g., > [Boyd et al., 2007; Martin and Fitzwater, > 1988]) and the geologic record [Winckler et al., 2008] indicate that > the availability of iron, a micronutrient > essential to photosynthesis in all plants, limits the growth of > phytoplankton in large areas of the ocean. Three > decades ago, John Martin and Steve Fitzwater proposed the ³Iron > Hypothesis², i.e. that the deliberate > addition of iron to stimulate phytoplankton growth could mimic the CO2 > reduction during glacial maxima > measured in ice core samples [Martin and Fitzwater, 1988]. Since > 1993, twelve open ocean experiments have > demonstrated that ocean iron fertilization (OIF) is one method of > increasing phytoplankton biomass and, potentially increasing carbon > sequestration. Given the threat posed by rapid climate change and the > dominant role of the biologic pump in the Earth¹s carbon cycle, it > seems important that we determine > conclusively whether the purposeful enhancement of oceanic carbon > sinks, as well as terrestrial ones, is a > possibility that is available to man‹and what the impacts of doing so > might be. This document discusses the > need for expanded research into OIF, highlights the key research > questions, and presents some ideas on how > this research can be conducted in an effective and environmentally > responsible manner. > > -- > 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. -- 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.
