Researchers at Stanford and Oregon State Universities have determined that ocean fertilization may not be an effective method of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, contrary to earlier beliefs. Adding iron and other nutrients to produce large algae blooms in the ocean, which would absorb carbon dioxide has been a well known possible solution to global warming and has been talked about on this blog several times. According to the ScienceDaily article, this process only reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide if the carbon absorbed into the algae sinks to deeper waters, which scientists call the "biological pump." The theory of the process is that the more algae in bloom the more carbon is transported from the atmosphere to the deep ocean, via the "biological pump."

Here's where it gets interesting, during the process of testing the theory the researchers determined that there are clear seasonal patterns in both algal abundance and carbon sinking rates. But one thing about this relationship caught the research team by surprise, and it was that less carbon was transported to deep water during summertime bloom than the rest of the year!

"This discovery is very surprising", said lead author Dr. Michael Lutz, now at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. "If, during natural plankton blooms, less carbon actually sinks to deep water than during the rest of the year, then it suggests that the Biological Pump leaks.

More material is recycled in shallow water and less sinks to depth, which makes sense if you consider how this ecosystem has evolved in a way to minimize loss", said Lutz. "Ocean fertilization schemes, which resemble an artificial summer, may not remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as has been suggested because they ignore the natural processes revealed by this research."

The study concludes that greatly enhanced carbon sequestration should not be expected no matter the location or duration of proposed large-scale ocean fertilization experiments.

This study is no doubt a win for environmentalists, who had major concerns about a large-scale project such as this. Maybe even some taxpayer relief as well!