Slowing global warming with Antarctic iron

By Gerald Traufetter

Recent research shows that melting icebergs in the ocean around Antarctica may actually slow global warming. The iron particles they carry feed algae blooms that suck up CO2. Could man-made algae blooms in the frigid waters help combat climate change?

The catch was cold and lifeless, there wasn't a single fish flopping in the net. When the haul came to rest on the deck of the HMS Endurance in southern Atlantic off the coast of Antarctica, the only sound was a dull creak.

Then polar researchers picked up sledgehammers and set to work on their catch, a block of ice measuring more than 10 meters (33 feet) long. They chipped away at the ice until they had reached deep enough into its interior, and there they made an exciting discovery.

Under a scanning electron microscope, tiny iron particles became visible. "These particles measure only a fraction of a millimeter," team leader Rob Raiswell explains, "but they have great importance for the global climate."

...

"This is the first time we've been able to prove the presence of trace elements in icebergs," Raiswell explains. With their discovery off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the scientists revealed a powerful mechanism that has been operating under the waves for millions of years: icebergs fertilize the ocean around the South Pole with microscopic particles containing iron. Algae are then able to bloom, and they in turn absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the Earth's atmosphere via photosynthesis. Some of the algae then sinks to the ocean floor.

Slowing Global Warming with Antarctic Iron

Technorati Tags: carbon sequestration,iron fertilization,algae