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Published online 14 January 2009 | Nature 457, 243 (2009) | doi:10.1038/457243a
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Ocean study draws ire
Indo-German research cruise sets sail despite criticism.
A German research ship laden with 20 tonnes of iron sulphate has whipped up a storm of protest as it sails towards the Antarctic, where it intends to dump its cargo into the ocean late this week.
Scientists on the RV Polarstern, which set sail from Cape Town in South Africa on 7 January, plan an ocean-fertilization experiment that some argue will violate international agreements.
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It is a multinational scientific study without any obvious commercial interest. We should not blindly oppose the experiment just because some another group decided otherwise. I firmly believe this experiment should go ahead, as it aims, finally to tacle the biggest menace to humanity : global warming.
I think there are many better ways to tackle climate change than that advocated by this adventure but the alternatives are less acceptable to spoilt, hyped modern people looking more at esoteric expensive solutions than down-to-earth common sense. Scientists in general seem to be too focused on ego trips, but I hope this is a misunderstanding from my part.
This experiment is likely to provide valuable information on our understanding of green house emission and may be even about changes in ocean pH. Whether there is a violation of some treaty or not, one has to understand most of the treaties were not laid out by scientists who are competent to understand the impact of a manipulation but actually by bureaucrats and politicians. I look forward to seeing the results of this study.
While I agree that every scientific endeavor might bring new knowledge to the scientific community, these studies are equally risky which might bring new challenges and issues. My greater concern is the environmental implications of man encountering into the natural systems (that too such large marine ecosystems) which is chemically equilibrated to support and balance marine organisms for time immemorial. The chemistry/chemical constituent of ocean evolved not just in years or decades but through millions of years. And let?s not forget that this evolved primordial soup was the first reaction mixture for the organic compounds which was the base of life. So mans large scale intervention into this chemical soup will far reaching impacts on ocean, at least regionally. While haven?t gone through the intricate details of LOHAFEX studies, as a student in phycology one obvious thing is that iron is often a chemical cue which can instigate large scale blooming of harmful algae such as Alexandrium catenella and Alexandrium fundyense (a phenomena called red tide) which can affect marine life as well as public health implications. I hope the study have considered all these adverse environmental effects in their design.