Scientists Strew Iron In Ocean In Vast Anti-Warming Experiment

"Berlin - Scientists began strewing iron powder on hundreds of square kilometres of Antarctic ocean Tuesday in a momentous experiment that may yield a solution to the global warming crisis. Some environmentalists have opposed the work of Indian and German scientists aboard the Polarstern, a German research icebreaker, but Berlin ruled Monday the project is safe and breaks no laws. The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) based in the German port of Bremerhaven said a radio buoy was released on the water and ferrous sulphate powder was mixed with seawater in two tanks on the vessel, then broadcast on the ocean. Six tons of iron are to be scattered on 300 square kilometres of sea to fertilize the growth of phytoplankton. The tiny organisms will remove carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere and take it deep under the ocean surface. The experiment is the biggest trial ever of iron fertilization, a technology which could stop global warming at very little cost."

Later in this article, Science Minister Annette Schavan went on to state "After careful a study of expert reports, I am convinced there are no scientific or legal objections to the German-Indian marine research project".

On the contrary, in 2007 MIT's Sally Chrisholm called the proposed iron-dumping solution "inconsistent with almost everything we know about aquatic ecosystems" She also offered that this could "shift the microbial community toward organisms that produce greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, with much higher warming potentials than CO2."
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One may conclude that as civilization further wanes, desperation will likely push scientists to further absurd attempts at magic bullet techno-fixes. The fundamental ignorance of the matter surrounds the fact that civilization's strategy of perpetually escalating complexity (through new technologies, laws, committees, taxes, etc.) is subject to the Law of Diminishing Returns. In a fundamentally unsustainable system, maintenance is an investment that must eventually expire, leading to a catabolic collapse.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: The Earth Times