Someone Should Do Something Fantastically Risky and Experimental to Stop The Global Warming
June 28th, 2007 by Maria Evans
Seaturtle swimming off of the Galapagos Islands.
Like Planktos, Inc.. They want to dump iron dust “several hundred miles west” of the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos Islands emit iron into the surrounding waters and it’s created a huge phytoplankton bloom. Planktos, Inc. wants to create a man-made phytoplankton bloom similar to the one Mother Nature made.
The plan, from a company called Planktos, Inc., seeks to grow the tiny creatures in an attempt to suck up excess atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Iron dust can stimulate the growth of microscopic marine plants that in turn use carbon dioxide taken from the atmosphere to fuel photosynthesis.
While phytoplankton in the ocean already absorb some of the greenhouse gas, some scientists have theorized that dumping iron into the ocean could allow it to become a more effective carbon sink, which is exactly the idea that Planktos, Inc, a for-profit company, plans to test.
Above: Satellite image showing phytoplankton concentrations around the Galapagos Islands in May 1998. Reds represent high concentration of phytoplankton, followed by orange, yellow, green, and blue. Image: NASA
The World Wildlife Fund is, at the least, skeptical:
“World Wildlife Fund’s concern extends beyond the impact on individual species and extends to the changes that this dumping may cause in the interaction of species, affecting the entire ecosystem,†said microbiologist Sallie Chisholm, a WWF board member. “There’s a real risk that this experiment may cause a domino effect through the food chain.â€
Considering the relative newness of the entire science of global warming, and the questions still surrounding its causes, is this really the time to roll the dice with a place as important to science as the Galapagos Islands, not to mention the implications for the rest of the planet if it ends up being a bad idea?
A seal in the Galapagos.
Maybe it’s time to stop the fear mongering and hysteria over global warming, and get back to some pure, unpoliticized science, before something extraordinarily stupid happens.
June 28th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I would be interested in hearing Paris Hilton’s comments on this topic.
June 29th, 2007 at 5:17 am
Perhaps Paris, Lindsay and Britney could reconvene the Bimbo Summit? They could invite Al and Rosie, Babs, Richard Gere and Michael Moore.
Perhaps they could collectively figure out how to open a door.
June 29th, 2007 at 8:59 am
First they would need to figure out what a door is.
June 29th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
RonR: I would be interested to hearing what Hilary has to say about all of this. I wonder if she can speak like a seal, or better yet–a photo plankton. She is so very well versed in adjusting to her supporters” accents, et. al., perhaps she can solve the problem since she is a “know-it-all”. God help us all if she wins the election–right?????
April 15th, 2008 at 5:21 am
[...] with cool binocular things like they have on the top of the Empire State Building Let’s face it, I’m not that green. I’m a global warming skeptic. I drive a car that’s less than [...]
April 15th, 2008 at 9:50 am
From this….”The plan, from a company called Planktos, Inc., seeks to grow the tiny creatures in an attempt to suck up excess atmospheric carbon dioxide.”…
To this….”Considering the relative newness of the entire science of global warming, and the questions still surrounding its causes, is this really the time to roll the dice with a place as important to science as the Galapagos Islands, not to mention the implications for the rest of the planet if it ends up being a bad idea?”…..
To this just in, this morning…http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Wind-farms-or-peat-bogs.3980685.jp
No, it’s not an off-shore wind farm but for something that has already been in place and ‘building’ for thousands of years…and certainly beneficial to our environment without speculative sciences…should they go ahead with this destruction in favour of a wind farm for a relative few? I guess my question is…what if we were debating the Scottish issue here…would we fight as hard for windmills on the grounds of tourism, expanding revenues unrelated to power? Enquiring minds would like to know. Personally, I would join those against the island wind farm…how about you? But then how do we reconcile one being ‘right’ and the other ‘wrong’.