This link is from an April 2010 article in Nature Reports. Not real current, but as it has somewhat of a link to geoengineering, which deals with human intervention in climate processes, I wanted to point it out.
In a nutshell, feces from the great whales contain "on average, ten million times more iron than Antarctic sea water". Iron is a limiting element needed by phytoplankton. Phytoplankton consume CO2. So from a geoengineering standpoint, we humans can continue to support NOT harvesting the great whales of the world, particularly the baleen whales like Humpback, Blue, Minke, etc. And maybe the Japanese, who do support Kyoto, will cut back on their "research" harvest of whales.
Adding iron to the oceans, to increase phytoplankton growth, to capture more CO2 from the atmosphere, is an oft discussed geoengineering approach to reducing atmospheric CO2. It does not have a lot of support because of the potential side effects of human introduction (from ships), which leads to poor distribution, both time-wise and spatially. So what can be more natural than turning iron (re) introduction back over to the great whales!
Note: most new iron in sea water now comes from dust blown off the land. This will continue, so with more great whales recycling it through the phytoplankton-krill-whale food chain, the CO2 absorbing rates will increase. Not the answer to achieve 350 ppm, but a healthy approach that will help!
In a nutshell, feces from the great whales contain "on average, ten million times more iron than Antarctic sea water". Iron is a limiting element needed by phytoplankton. Phytoplankton consume CO2. So from a geoengineering standpoint, we humans can continue to support NOT harvesting the great whales of the world, particularly the baleen whales like Humpback, Blue, Minke, etc. And maybe the Japanese, who do support Kyoto, will cut back on their "research" harvest of whales.
Humpback Whale, Antarctic waters. Photo by Bill Fintel
Adding iron to the oceans, to increase phytoplankton growth, to capture more CO2 from the atmosphere, is an oft discussed geoengineering approach to reducing atmospheric CO2. It does not have a lot of support because of the potential side effects of human introduction (from ships), which leads to poor distribution, both time-wise and spatially. So what can be more natural than turning iron (re) introduction back over to the great whales!
Note: most new iron in sea water now comes from dust blown off the land. This will continue, so with more great whales recycling it through the phytoplankton-krill-whale food chain, the CO2 absorbing rates will increase. Not the answer to achieve 350 ppm, but a healthy approach that will help!
2 comments:
Nice Humpback Whale pic
Yet another reason to stop hunting whales. Very interesting post, Bill.
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