YOUR concept of nature is almost certainly going to influence whether you support the idea of a German ship dumping 20 tons of iron sulphate over 300 square kilometres of Southern Ocean to provoke a massive algal bloom for carbon sequestration.
Those who subscribe to the idea that earth systems are delicately balanced are likely to be horrified and may want to send off a letter to the German government as suggested by Climate Ark to stop the experiment. The ship is already in the Southern Ocean and ready to dump.
Those, who, like Paleontologist Peter Ward, reject the notion of ‘Gaia’, and subscribe to the ‘The Medea Hypothesis’ that there is no balance of nature are likely to favor geo-engineering solutions including to climate change. [Gaia versus Medea discussed here.]
I tend to fall into a third category, recognising that natural systems are dynamic and also generally fairly resilient. I would not advocate large scale geo-engineering unless the problem was well defined and the benefits clearly articulated.
As regards dumping tons of iron sulphate in the Southern Ocean – if an excess of carbon in the atmosphere really is a problem then it is perhaps justified as part of a mix of potential solutions. But I am not convinced that the elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing a problem.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.