Climate engineering using Iron
I’ve long been of the opinion we can’t rely on carbon emission reduction alone. If by some miracle we manage to get our act together in the US we still have no control over the other 6.7 billion people on the planet. We need to explore more aggressive solutions like this.
IF YOU want to help stop climate change, try tipping some iron into the sea. For years, this geoengineering idea has been considered a busted flush, but new results suggest it really can work.
Tiny floating algae called phytoplankton pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. When they die, the plankton sink to the seabed, taking the carbon with them. Over thousands of years, this strips CO2 from the air, lowering temperatures.
But many ocean regions are short of iron, which plankton need to grow, so the process does not occur. Adding iron should stimulate plankton growth in these areas.