The Polarstern in action. Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute

Report
Wake of Controversy Sails with the Polarstern
By Maricel Drazer

Stimulating the growth of phytoplankton by adding iron to the sea could be another way to absorb excess carbon that causes climate change, say the scientists involved in a controversial study in the Atlantic Ocean.

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, Feb 23 (Tierramérica).- The German oceanography ship Polarstern, one of the most prestigious in the world, is conducting a major experiment of dispersing iron in seawater in order to absorb carbon dioxide, the principal climate changing gas.

The experiment, under way to the northeast of the South Georgia Islands in the southern Atlantic, is intended to promote the growth of phytoplankton and consequent absorption of carbon by dumping 20 tons of iron sulfate over an area of 300 square kilometers.

The iron induces a proliferation of algae, which absorb more carbon dioxide (CO2) from the water during photosynthesis. Because the CO2 dissolved in the ocean's surface water is in equilibrium with the atmosphere, a deficit of the gas in the water is compensated by taking more CO2 from the air.

Thus enriching the water with iron could become a way to fight global climate change, say the experts running the experiment.

But some environmentalists disagree, and warn about the experiment's unknown consequences. The study is now immersed in an international-scale debate.

"The absorption of carbon dioxide through the activation of algae growth in the sea does not constitute an effective method to fight climate change and, furthermore, it involves great environmental risks. The sea cannot be turned into a bio-reactor," Stephan Lutter, of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), told Tierramérica.

They also question efforts aimed at absorbing CO2 and not reducing its production in the first place.

"One consequence of this kind of risky project could be that there is a lack of financial resources in other places for reasonable research in energy efficiency, for renewable energy and for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases," said Lutter.

Meanwhile, the researchers involved in the study have been surprised by the "intensity" of the criticism.

"The objective of our experiment is to manipulate one point of the ocean in its natural context in order to understand and quantify the processes that characterize the ocean ecosystems," said professor Ulrich Bathmann, of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, entrusted with the project alongside the National Oceanography Institute of India.

The test "will show how plankton reacts to the addition of iron, what quantity of phytoplankton forms, how much CO2 is fixed -- absorbed --, what percentage of carbon remains in the system, and how much carbon is sunk in the depths of the ocean," Bathmann explained to Tierramérica.

Based on what has happened so far, the Argentine Foreign Ministry has expressed concern about the experiment and asked for explanations from the German delegation in that country, given that, although conducted in international waters, the results could affect the seas off the coast of Argentina.

The environmental groups argue that the study runs up against international law.

In fact, the 9th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held May 19-30, 2008 in Bonn, laid out critical statements about this type of initiative.

Germany's Environment Ministry web site states that the Conference took a clear position against activities like artificial fertilization of maritime areas for the purpose of CO2 absorption, because scientists fear serious negative consequences for the marine environment.

But on Jan. 26 the German authorities gave the green light to the experiment, dubbed "Lohafex" ("loha" means iron in Hindi).

And so 49 scientists, mostly Indian and German, but also Italian, Spanish, British, and one French and one Chilean began the planned iron fertilization of the Atlantic waters. They had already been aboard the icebreaker Polarstern 20 days, awaiting authorization.

"The experiment is going well. Fertilization was carried out in a closed oceanic eddy. The phytoplankton are growing and the biomass has more than doubled," Bathmann, in charge of monitoring the experiment from land, told Tierramérica.

In the last 15 years, oceanic carbon capture has been tested scientifically in a dozen small experiments, five in the Antarctic Ocean.

In 2007, however, the U.S.-based Planktos company had to halt its plans to disseminate iron in Ecuadorian waters near the Galápagos Islands, in the Pacific, due to strong opposition from environmental activists and officials in the region.

Planktos had hoped to negotiate carbon credits on the global market, as proposed in the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

The heads of Lohafex, however, have ruled out any commercial motivations.

Nevertheless, environmentalists see serious risks in the effort. "There is the danger that interested companies will try to sell iron fertilization as a measure against global warming, and include it in the global emissions market," states the North Sea Action Conference.

"It is a megalomaniac plan of the researchers. The background is the economic interest to find a low-cost solution for the global problem of CO2," says the environmental group in a pubic statement.

Regardless, and according to the original plan, the Polarstern will wrap up its experiment Mar. 17, when it reaches the coast of Punta Arenas, in southern Chile, with the heated debate as cargo.

* IPS correspondent.