Phytoplankton Could Solve Climate Change, Reduce Carbon Dioxide in Ocean [Simulation]

Climate scientists think people could prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change if the amount of carbon in the ocean is increased through phytoplankton.

NOAA said about 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by the ocean, which naturally absorbs carbon dioxide and dissolves it. PBS News Hour added that the sea contains 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere.

Like land-based plants, NOAA added that oceanic phytoplankton use this carbon dioxide and sunshine to conduct photosynthesis. This process results in the production of oxygen.

Debate on Adding Phytoplankton in Ocean to Remove Carbon Dioxide

Some climatologists have suggested that we might remove more carbon from the atmosphere if we just increased the number of phytoplankton in the ocean.

However, iron is a crucial ingredient for the plankton population and is a well-known strategy for creating a phytoplankton bloom.

Since many areas of the ocean are deficient in iron, even a modest infusion of iron can greatly increase phytoplankton production and reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

"Give me half a tanker of iron, and I'll give you an ice age," John Martin, an oceanographer at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, wrote in 1988.

Most people have only recently begun to learn about the concept of climate change as we know it today.

However, it was also around that time that people began to consider how iron fertilization can impact phytoplankton development and alter atmospheric carbon levels.

Although climate scientists have talked about this approach quite a bit, there hasn't been a coordinated effort to investigate it further and treat it seriously.

Scientist Ken Buesseler has studied iron fertilization in the ocean as a marine radiochemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

In examining whether adding iron may "alter the flux of carbon to the deep ocean," he and his colleagues discovered a sizable carbon-sequestering impact.

How Increasing Iron Levels in Ocean Could Absorb Carbon Dioxide

Buesseler told The Daily Beast (via Yahoo! News) that not much has changed since his research was completed over 20 years ago.

Twenty years ago, Buesseler and his colleagues began traveling and dispersing a chemical type of iron in search of that phytoplankton-the plant reaction.

In fact, it demonstrated quite clearly that raising the iron levels would increase the absorption of carbon dioxide.

Buesseler thinks that the public is far more aware of the climate situation now than they were 20 years ago.

In recent years, the concept of using the seas to fight climate change has received a lot of attention from climate experts.

SPACE, SPACE: This NASA Aqua Satellite image released 09 December, 2003 shows the turbid waters surrounding southern Florida and the Florida Keys. Clouds of milky blue, green, and tan sediments and microscopic marine organisms (like phytoplankton and algae) discolor the water in the Gulf of Mexico north of the Keys Upper-L), but end abruptly in the deeper water of the Straits of Florida (Bottom). The water north of the Keys is relatively shallow, so sediments are a likely cause of the discoloration - rough waters can churn up the mud from the sea floor, which then clouds the water. But in the deeper water south of the Keys, sediment on the sea floor is much harder to disturb, which keeps the water clearer. The Keys are a collection of islands, islets, and reefs stretching from Virginia Key to the Dry Tortugas, a distance of about 309 kilometers (192 miles). They're made mostly of limestone and coral, and are known for their variety of wildlife, subtropical vegetation, and spectacular diving. Most of the islands are connected to the mainland via the Overseas Highway, making this a popular and easily-accessible destination. NASA/AFP via Getty Images

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Iron Fertilization Made Easy

Buesseler was a scientific team member that published a study late in the previous year through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that examined the possibilities, including raising phytoplankton concentrations.

According to Buesseler, the tests wouldn't negatively affect the ocean's natural environment. Still, they might provide important information regarding the long-term effects of adding more iron to the ocean on a far bigger scale.

Iron fertilization would also be rather simple to carry out, according to David Siegel, a professor of marine science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who spoke with The Daily Beast. Simply get a 120-foot fishing boat and begin dispersing the iron where it will be most beneficial for promoting phytoplankton development.

The results would be felt rather rapidly. Researchers who have previously added iron to seawater have seen that phytoplankton blooms can begin to appear within the first 24 hours.

The best spot to introduce the iron would be in areas of the ocean far from land, mainly in the southern hemisphere, where it is least abundant. Dust from the land that blows into the water is often where iron winds up in the ocean.

Both Buesseler and Siegel emphasized that stopping the use of fossil fuels should be the only option. When it comes to having a chance to stop climate change, it is still crucial. But to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change, technologies for removing carbon from the atmosphere must also be developed.