From the Toronto Star, an example of holier than thou environmentalism in the name of carbon sequestration.
Environmental controversy erupts on Canada’s Pacific coast
Environment reporter
The Pacific Ocean, just off Canada’s west coast, has a new suspect ingredient: 100 tonnes of iron sulphate.
An American entrepreneur with a controversial past in geoengineering dumped the iron dust into the Pacific near the Haida Gwaii islands in July after allegedly telling local villagers that the “experiment” was a salmon restoration project, according to ETC Group, an international environmental watchdog with offices in Canada.
Russ George, a U.S. businessman, “blatantly violated” two international moratoria when he dumped the iron dust, Jim Thomas of ETC told the Star on Monday — a UN convention and the London Convention on the disposal of wastes at sea.
“There are very clear international agreements that there is (to be) no ocean fertilization,” he said. “Except if the permit (is) granted in very limited set of circumstances. It didn’t happen in this case.”
Ocean iron fertilization — a highly controversial practice — means stimulating plankton blooms in open water, which then seize carbon from the atmosphere and, on sinking to the bottom of the ocean, store it away. Earlier experiments, about a dozen mostly done by universities, have shown mixed results.
George did not respond to requests for comment from the Star but told the Guardian the two moratoria are a “mythology” and do not apply to his project.
Full story here http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1272022–environmental-controversy-erupts-on-canada-s-pacific-coast
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Right, he’s “saving the planet” and who needs rules for that?
h/t to WUWT reader Martyn Jones
Lets hope that a molecular biologist with access to a biological warfare agent doesn’t decide that “saving the planet” is the perfect rationalization for mass genocide.
Should we watch out for mutant sea bass…
Put him in irons, hang him from the mainmast, keel haul him.
The greatest sin is stupidity and this guy is really stupid.
“How much CO2 was released in mining that iron?”
These experiments use a surprisingly small amount of iron given the area and amount of time over which it’s added to the ocean. Quite a bit of the ocean is indeed “anemic.”
A commenter mentioned 1 parts per million; typical surface iron concentrations can be measured in a few parts per billion.
See
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/courses/OCN626/2010/boyd_science_2007.pdf
The UN “moratoria” are from two statements:
The London Protocol on Ocean Dumping resolution said ocean fertilization activities, except for legitimate scientific research, were contrary to the aims of the convention (though this is a non-binding resolution). The other UN “moratorium” comes from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity saying government should ensure “that no climate-related geo-engineering activities that may affect biodiversity take place, until there is an adequate scientific basis on which to justify such activities…with the exception of small scale scientific research studies”
see:
Resolution LC-LP.1 (2008) on the Regulation of Ocean Fertilization, International Maritime Organisation, London.
Conference of the Parties (2010), Decision X/33: Biodiversity and climate change, 9 pp, United Nations Environment Program Convention on Biological Diversity, Nagoya.
It takes a surprisingly small amount of iron to stimulate algal growth (not the same as carbon sequestration – for that the carbon has to be transported long term to the deep ocean) in open-ocean experiments. Large parts of the ocean are indeed “anemic:” they have excess concentrations of nutrients like phosporous and nitrogen but not as much plant biomass as would be expected, because of the lack of micronutrients like iron. Someone mentioned iron concentrations of parts per million; in much of the ocean the concentrations are in parts per billion (nanomolar). See:
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/courses/OCN626/2010/boyd_science_2007.pdf
The UN moratoria are from resolutions from the London Protocol on Ocean Dumping which issued a non-binding resolution saying ocean fertilisation activities, other than for legitimate scientific research, were contrary to the aims of the convention. Also the UN Convention on Biological Diversity said governments should see “that no climate-related geo-engineering activities that may affect biodiversity take place, until there is an adequate scientific basis on which to justify such activities…with the exception of small scale scientific research studies”
see:
Resolution LC-LP.1 (2008) on the Regulation of Ocean Fertilization, International Maritime Organisation, London.
Conference of the Parties (2010), Decision X/33: Biodiversity and climate change, 9 pp, United Nations Environment Program Convention on Biological Diversity, Nagoya.
Perhaps one of the reasons for recent warming [ if there has been any] is the current lack of iron sulphate being pumped into the ocean. Titanium dioxide used to be produced by the sulphate process which removed excess iron as iron sulphate, which was then disposed of by being pumped into the ocean.
One such plant operated near Bunbury in Western Australia in the 1960s-70s and possibly into early 80s. One hundred tons [or tonnes] of iron sulphate? That plant pumped more than that into the ocean every day for around 20 years. There were several other plants like it around the world.
So what is the claimed response? What a ridiculous if not Idiotic venture!
So WHY did he pick coastal BC, an area where natural upwelling already provides iron at near sufficiency? Perhaps because carbon theologians have been commiserating about rising acidity directly related to the approximately 15% higher CO2 content of the deep water upwelling there as a result of the PDO shift.. See “Rising Acidity Brings a World of Trouble”, Science Magazine.
Why Iron Sulphate? Yes, that Sulphur will go straight to DMS when the plankton deplete the Oxygen and go anerobic. And H2S. Lovely stuff. Ancient critters have multiple metabolic pathways at their disposal. Otherwise they wouldn’t be here.
I don’t think the geo-engineers have fully comprehended the complexity of climate change for them to start implementing their ideas. This Iron fertilising of the ocean might have been a deadly move, because there are many feedback mechanisms that can be triggered and those mechanisms are yet to be understood, if they ever will be. This will obviously disrupt the ecosystem of the ocean and the results might go either way. At this moment, funding should go to research rather than implementation because a lot is yet to be discovered!
In this morning’s (Oct 18) Victoria Times Colonist newspaper, a letter to the editor from;
Tim Parsons, professor emeritus, Earth and Ocean Sciences University of British Columbia
Mentions Andrew Weaver.
Iron-dust experiment has justification
http://www.timescolonist.com/story_print.html?id=7408414&sponsor=
ferd berple:
your theory that McGuinty will take the government’s agenda with him seems to be contradicted by the resignation of Gordon Campbell of BC – replacement by a charming new premier has not improved the party’s standing in opinion polls.
Voters appear to be fed up with the party in general, many of them opting for a revival of the provincial conservative party (which is now self-destructing). Probably voters will flip to the Marxist NDP next spring, and in another decade flip back. No change.
Voters keep electing politicians with grandiose schemes – like McGuinty’s green economy, which is not a possible economic recovery plan even if green economics were feasible. People cannot be manipulated like most politicians think they can.
Typical politicians are unable to think critically before adopting them, unable to administer.
(E.G. Bureaucrats in BC missed that people would take investment losses on their tax returns. Bureaucrats in the TransLink transportation bureaucracy in the Greater Vancouver area is missed that people were buying less gasoline thus their tax revenue is well down. Hhigh gas prices motivate people to drive less and buy cars that are more fuel efficient – who’d a thunk of that?).
Makes me wonder if the fungus eating coral in the Caribbean got there from an environmentalist experiment gone awry? The fungus was found to be identical to a common one in western Africa. The theory of how it got to the other side of the Pacific is that it blew over on the wind. Last I read about it, nobody had any idea how a land based fungus adapted to living on coral in salt water.
I can only say…. follow the money! How could a tiny First Nations community like Old Masset, undoubtedly beset by the usual financial woes of unemployment and poverty, come up with $2.5 million to meet the cost of dumping iron dust not into their own waters but 200 miles out in international waters for no financial return or gain. Such wonderful generosity!
I used to be an environmentalist but today’s environmentalism has moved so far from its roots that it is unrecognizable to me now. Dumping iron sulfate in the ocean for carbon credits, promoting the killing of camels in Australia for carbon credits, fighting Canada’s northern seal hunt because there are NO carbon credits, intentionally introducing invasive species but renaming it ‘assisted migration’ to save the planet, its absolutely bizarre.
How the hell did it come to this?
I believe climate alarmism continues to be the greatest threat to the environmental movement.
I’m not an environmentalist anymore.
Cam_S says:
October 16, 2012 at 11:24 am
………
Russ George
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_george
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Well, well this clown is relevant enough to have his own wikipedia page, same as William_Connolley
but Marcel Leroux got dissapeared, his page survived only in the french version:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Leroux
The honour to be on Wikipedia is getting really sort of dubious.
Another climate craziness of the week contender? “University of Melbourne climate change scientist David Karoly said Australians were in fact responsible for .45 per cent of total carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/shock-jock-jones-told-to-get-factual-accuracy-training-20121018-27srs.html#ixzz2A1jOTKhg“
This story is still in the news.
Some in Old Masset had concerns over iron-dumping scheme
Ocean project not community’s first carbon credit initiative
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Some+Masset+concerns+over+iron+dumping+scheme/7429860/story.html
Beware the rogue geoengineer ( about Russ George, Planktos, carbon credits)
http://www.straight.com/article-815006/vancouver/melissa-felder-beware-rogue-geoengineer
Still in the news…
$2.5 million has disappeared?
Haida iron-dumping project sought Swiss company to sell carbon credits
http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=7442556&sponsor=
Iron Sulfate turns out to be excellent Earth Grease. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake was registered off Haida Gwaii on October 27, 2012 at roughly the same location that 100 tonnes of Iron Sulfate was dumped in July, 2012. This is the location of the Queen Charlotte Fault. There has not been an earthquake this big in this area since 1949, when it was an 8.1 magnitude. Need an Earthquake real bad? Just grab the Earth Grease and apply Liberally to the Left Coast!! Works like a charm!! Earth’s bowls are cleared out in no time. Our operators are standing by!