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Could a Rogue Millionaire Fix Climate Change?

Most of us have seen the alarmist food documentaries that target giant food companies like Monsanto. Soaring over crops, airplanes spray contrails of fertilizer that often spill into smaller neighboring farms; destroying their seeds and ultimately...
Image of an algal bloom (not George’s), via Flickr

Most of us have seen the alarmist food documentaries that target giant food companies like Monsanto. Soaring over crops, airplanes spray contrails of fertilizer that often spill into smaller neighboring farms, destroying their seeds and ultimately causing nasty patent battles. But these matters take usually take place on land between a mean corporation and a helpless farmer.

Out in the ocean, one businessman’s approach to rebound shrinking fish populations has stoked some voices of fury in the science world. As explained by the New York Times, an entrepreneur, Russ George, dumped 100 tons of iron dust into the Canadian Pacific, just south of the Alaskan Gulf.

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A local tribe, the Haida nation, reportedly gave George $2.5 million dollars in hope that his massive dumping of iron would fertilize and fuel rich plankton blooms. Apparently it worked. Visible from space, a 3,861 square mile area is now experiencing an intense phytoplankton bloom in the wake of what’s been described as the “world’s largest geoengineering experiment.”

But the mercenary replenishment of fish food seems to be the least of the scientific community’s concern. Experts are embittered by George, a 62-year-old ex-fishery and forestry worker from northern California, calling him unscientific and pushing that it’s first necessary to determine possible side-effects before proceeding with oceanic fertilization projects.

Iron-dumping has previously been theorized as a possible way to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. For example, the Southern Ocean is nutrient-rich, but has few plankton, which could be due to a deficiency of iron. So, if you dump an enormous amount of iron into the water, you might spawn a huge bloom of plankton, which absorb carbon. Within a few weeks, the plankton die and carry the CO2 down to the ocean floor where it can stay for centuries. But so far it’s just been hypothesized. The uncertainty around the long term effects of dumping iron into the ocean has been cause for consternation for scientists everywhere, whom I envision as spitting out their coffee, tossing stacks of paper in the air, and shouting into pillows. As such, a massive iron-based geoengineering project has never been approved, but that didn’t stop George.

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“If somebody doesn’t step forward to save the oceans, it’s too late," George said in an interview defending his move. He calls himself a champion and adds that his brand of oceanic fertilization could halt global warming. Though it’s still unknown if George’s iron dumping is environmentally criminal or miraculously venerable, it’s definitely making him some decent cash and breaking international agreements.

While we need drastic breakthroughs to make any sort of dent in climate change, Phillip Bump at Grist argues that universally holistic endeavors and actions weigh more value than George’s haste. “The moral of the story: If you have a scheme that you think can save the planet, try to get scientific and legal consensus on it before putting it into action,” he wrote.

While alternative geoengineering projects aim to block solar radiation as a method of saving sea ice, or reduce temperatures by pumping fart gas into the atmosphere, they’re all subject to the experimentation and gradual ramping-up prescribed by good science practice. Rogue, DIY opportunists like George begs a big question: Will an entrepreneur with a few dollar signs in his eyes save the world? Oh, and one more: Will someone like George end up damaging the environment further in a misguided attempt at good?

If this has you thinking you’re going to kickstart your own geoengineering business anytime soon (literally, see this man-made ice project), just be sure to keep a watchful eye over your shoulder. Things could get nasty out in that open water, and a lot of people aren’t happy with George’s moves. But who knows? Maybe it will work, and maybe we’ll all end up makin’ it rain iron and singin’ pirate songs while indigenous tribes hurl crisp multi-million dollar briefcases aboard our research vessels. Or, yeah, more likely it won’t.

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