What I find startling is that 100 tons was good enough to fertilize
an area of 10,000 square kilometers. Thus actual application may end
up very practical. Such a region initially established out to sea
and generally upwind will produce a bloom that will likely migrate
slowly toward the coast and along that coast establishing a maximum
effect.
It must be said that this area is ideal for this type of experiment
as the currents and winds do coincide to drive surface waters inshore
to maximize the fishery impact.
Just a clearly, the impact footprint strongly suggests that one ship
and a season of operations could distribute one to three thousand
tons of mineral causing two or three million square kilometers of
fertilized waters.
Just as clearly we could do the same trick on the East Coast to feed
into the Grand Banks from the US border.
So yes, it appears to be practical and early reports are discovering
a visible algae bloom and thriving sea life.
The pay off for Haida Gwai is also obvious. A giant local fishery
would be hugely welcome here as they dominate a huge part of the
ocean fishery here because of the territorial exclusion zone of 200
miles. So get over it. This has local support and all the benefits
can be siphoned into local waters until everyone does.
Haida Gwaii: 'We
have created life out there'
Iron-dust trial to
foster sea life in B.C. waters arouses hope, horror
By Judith Lavoie,
Times Colonist; With Files From Postmedia October 16, 2012
Read more:\
A controversial
experiment that entailed dumping 100 tonnes of iron-laden dust
into the ocean off Haida Gwaii has spawned a 10,000-square-kilometre
plankton bloom. While organizers in Old Massett are hailing the
geoengineering trial as a success, scientists and climatologists are
horrified.
The idea of sprinkling
iron in the sea to promote the growth of phytoplankton came from
California businessman Russ George.
Scientists are worried
about side effects such as ocean acidification — George's vessels
were barred from ports by the Spanish and Ecuadorean governments
after he attempted to dump iron in the ocean near the Canary and
Galapagos Islands.
George claims the
plankton will absorb carbon dioxide, opening the door to selling
carbon credits.
That's what the Old
Massett village council and economic development officer John Disney
are counting on. More than $2 million has been borrowed for the
project from village reserve funds through the Haida Salmon
Restoration Corp.
Disney, who has
shepherded the project through the council and a village vote, said
carbon credit sales will start as soon as the data has been tabulated
and will be used to repay the debt to the community.
"This is a
village project about bringing the fish back and we are going
to sequester carbon," said Disney, who is delighted at the
algae bloom and the abundant sea life feeding there.
"It's like
putting compost on your lettuces.... We have tuna, salmon, whales and
dolphins," Disney said.
"We have had
enormous support for this from leading scientists and institutions
and we have come up roses. We have created life out there."
The salmon-restoration
project started because coho and chinook from the Haida Gwaii
hatchery were not surviving in the ocean and research showed there
was not enough food, Disney said.
The missing element
appeared to be iron — the scientific clincher was when
unexpectedly high returns of salmon to the Fraser River in 2008 were
attributed to volcanic dust, he said.
Iron sulphate —
iron-rich dust from Alberta — was taken by a local ship in July and
put into a moving eddy in the ocean, which is now about 400
kilometres offshore, Disney said.
The project was not
going to be publicized until all the data was analyzed, but on
Monday, the British newspaper the Guardian ran a story documenting
the geoengineering, predicting the experiment would spark outrage at
a United Nations environmental summit in India this week.
Observers say the
experiment contravenes the UN convention on biological diversity and
London convention on the dumping of waste at sea.
"It appears to be
a blatant violation of two international resolutions," Kristina
Gjerde, a high seas adviser for the International Union for
Conservation of Nature told the Guardian.
"This does not
appear to even have had the guise of legitimate scientific research."
An Environment Canada
spokesman said in an emailed statement that the department is aware
of the experiment and the matter is under investigation, so it would
be inappropriate to comment further.
University of Victoria
climate scientist Andrew Weaver said research shows that some parts
of the ocean are iron limited and that iron can cause a plankton
bloom, but there is no proof it has an effect on salmon.
"When you do
something like this, there are profound implications. Using the ocean
as a carbon sink can cause ocean acidification," he said.
It's also not clear
that the carbon can be sequestered — it's likely it would end up
being released back into the atmosphere, Weaver said.
"They are not
going to get a penny in carbon credits, because there's no evidence
the carbon is going to stay where it is," he said.
There could also be
serious consequences if other countries decide to do their own
uncontrolled experiments, Weaver said
"You just can't
be doing this. This is why we have international treaties and
international law and processes."
Guujaaw, president of
the Haida Nation, said the geoengineering was a local decision by Old
Massett, but concerns are growing about possible effects.
"This might be
something where there were good intentions, but my concern is the
reputation of our people," he said. "We have fought hard to
protect our land."
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