Ocean fertilisation experiment halted

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 07:50

Ecologists have protested a joint mission by Indian and German scientists to Antartica to seed the sea near Antartica with iron sulphate, saying it is a breach of a global convention on a moratorium on `fertilising' the sea.

The experiment has now been halted, and was set to be conducted in the Southern Ocean from the research vessel Polarstern. Some experts believe that South Africa should be involved in scientific research of this kind in order to understand its ecological benefits and risks in countering climate change.

The researchers planned to 'fertilise' 300 sq km of the Scotia Sea, close to Antarctica, with 20 tonnes of iron sulphate. (Ocean fertilisation is the dumping of iron in the ocean in order to generate an algal bloom). The international team of 50 researchers set sail on 7 January from Cape Town, South Africa, and was on course to reach their experiment site at a stormy stretch in Scotia Sea between Argentina and the Antarctic peninsula.

Dr Pedro Monteiro, head of the Ocean Systems and Climate Group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, believes SA should play a bigger role in ocean fertilisation. "Our climate is strongly dependent on the surrounding oceans and the country is an important player in global climate negotiations," Monteiro told the Saturday Star.

"The uncertainty about the effectiveness of iron fertilisation lies in the complex links between iron addition and carbon export to the deep ocean as well as the ecosystem impacts," said Monteiro, calling for large-scale experiments. "Even though this [the Polarstern] is the largest experiment, it's still insignificantly small in terms of the carbon fluxes in the Southern Ocean."

But he also cautioned that: "All geo-engineering solutions are last options in the need to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. The prime focus remains reduced emissions."

Other experts have apposing views, and Dr David Santillo, a senior scientist at Greenpeace, said: "We're deeply concerned about the Polarstern Lohafex project because we don't feel that attempts to manipulate ocean ecosystems on a massive scale will constitute a sustainable approach to mitigating climate change. It could actually make matters worse."

Environmental groups are in an uproar about the Polarstern expedition because it defies an agreement reached last year by parties to the UN International Convention on Biodiversity that, until a global mechanism exists to control fertilisation activities, any experiments must be restricted to the small scale and in coastal waters.

"The Lohafex project is neither small scale nor in coastal waters," maintains Santillo. "It's not for individual states to decide to override this moratorium."

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