Talk:Iron fertilization

DMS cloud mechanism critique

The section, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization#Dimethyl_sulfide_and_clouds, doesn't discuss the possibility that increased cloud cover would also result in increased greenhouse gases, thus not only is it highly uncertain as to how much cooling would result, the effect may be a net positive feedback loop or net negative. In other words, the uncertainty band extends in both directions.—Jamesray1 (talk) 04:53, 19 January 2019 (UTC)

Iron Salt Aerosol content added

I have added some new sections to this page with the following headings:-

• Methods
  • Ship based deployment
  • Atmospheric sourcing
    • Iron Salt Aerosol

including information about an alternative to ship based deployment of iron fertilization of the ocean, i.e. atmospheric deployment and specifically the Iron Salt Aerosol method. I am in contact with the author of the paper and am involved in my spare time with voluntarily researching the Iron Salt Aerosol method. My involvement is unpaid and not commercially motivated.

Shalso (talk) 22:26, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

article saying it might not help

• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200217162348.htm

I haven't read this carefully yet. Maybe someone else can figure out whether to use it. 2601:648:8202:96B0:E0CB:579B:1F5:84ED (talk) 07:49, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

Yes, that's right. It's not a feasible solution. I've added some sentences about that to the lead, also at ocean fertilization. More could be done to update this article and to make it clearer that it's basically a no-go. EMsmile (talk) 13:44, 30 May 2022 (UTC)

: Just something to note, the line "Research in the early 2020s suggested that it could only permanently sequester a small amount of carbon." links to a news article which never refers to any research done on Iron fertilisation. It only mentions that it and many other simpler solutions are considered moot. Consider removing or linking the sentence to a research article.161.29.24.84 (talk) 09:20, 28 February 2024 (UTC)User:PolarbearHug

References

removed further reading list

I've taken out the "further reading list" as it was arbitrary, outdated, US-centric:

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2009). Scientific Synthesis of the Impacts of Ocean Fertilization on Marine Biodiversity. Montreal, Technical Series No. 45, 53 pages

Technique

• Ocean Gardening Using Iron Fertilizer
• Iron 'Fertilization' Causes Plankton Bloom - National Science Foundation
• Ocean Carbon Sequestration Abstracts - US Department of Energy
• After the SOIREE: Testing the Limits of Iron Fertilization - NASA
• The Geritol Effect - University of Southern California
• Seeds of Iron to Mitigate Climate Change- treehugger.com
• Dumping Iron - Wired News

Context

• Global Impact of Ocean Nourishment - I.S.F. Jones, Berkeley
• Fertilizing the Ocean with Iron - First article in a six-part series from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Oceanus magazine

Debate

• Oschlies, A., W. Koeve, W. Rickels, and K. Rehdanz (2010). "Side effects and accounting aspects of hypothetical large-scale southern ocean iron fertilization" (PDF). Biogeosciences Discussions. 7 (2): 2949–2995. doi:10.5194/bgd-7-2949-2010.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• The Iron Shore Of Science Journalism
• An Open Letter to the Marine Science Community: Has Personal Bias Derailed Science?
• Canadian Fishing at the Grand Banks, Zebra Mussels, and Iron's Effect on Plankton: an example of plausible connections -Chris Yukna (Ecole des Mines, France)
• Basu, Sourish (September 2007). "Oceangoing Iron: A venture to profit from a CO2-eating algae bloom riles scientists". Scientific American. Vol. 297, no. 4. Scientific American, Inc. (published October 2007). pp. 23–24. Retrieved 2008-08-04. Note: Only first two paragraphs are available free on-line EMsmile (talk) 17:33, 30 May 2022 (UTC)

Changing ocean processes

• Global Change and Oceanic Primary Productivity: Effects of Ocean-Atmosphere-Biological Feedbacks - A. J. Miller et al., 2003.
• The Processes of the Ocean's Biological Pump and CO₂ Sequestration - Jun Nishioka, 2002.

Micronutrient iron and ocean productivity

• Open Ocean Iron Fertilization for Scientific Study and Carbon Sequestration - K. Coale, 2001.
• Ocean Fertilisation - V. Smetecek, 2004.
• Sequestration of CO₂ by Ocean Fertilization - M. Markels and R. Barber, 2001.
• Effect of In-Situ Fertilization on Phytoplankton Growth and Biological Carbon Fixation In the Ocean - T. Yoshimura and D. Tsumune, 2005.
• Stimulating the Ocean Biological Carbon Pump by Iron Fertilization - Jun Nishioka, 2003.
• Iron Fertilization of the Oceans: Reconciliing Commercial Claims with Published Models - P. Lam & S. Chisholm, 2002.
• Coale KH, Johnson KS, Fitzwater SE, et al. (October 1996). "A massive phytoplankton bloom induced by an ecosystem-scale iron fertilization experiment in the equatorial Pacific Ocean". Nature. 383 (6600): 495–501. Bibcode:1996Natur.383..495C. doi:10.1038/383495a0. PMID 18680864. S2CID 41323790.
• Schiermeier Q (April 2004). "Iron seeding creates fleeting carbon sink in Southern Ocean". Nature. 428 (6985): 788. Bibcode:2004Natur.428..788S. doi:10.1038/428788b. PMID 15103342. S2CID 33727485.
• Victor Smetecek (March 1999). "Diatoms and the Ocean Carbon Cycle". Protist. 150 (1): 25–32. doi:10.1016/S1434-4610(99)70006-4. hdl:10013/epic.13528. PMID 10724516.
• Kent Cavender-Bares; et al. (March 1999). "Differential Response of Equatorial Pacific Phytoplankton to Iron Fertilization". Limnology and Oceanography. 44 (2): 237–246. Bibcode:1999LimOc..44..237C. doi:10.4319/lo.1999.44.2.0237. JSTOR 2670596.

Ocean biomass carbon sequestration

• J.A. Raven and P.G. Falkowski (June 1999). "Oceanic Sinks for Atmospheric CO₂". Plant, Cell and Environment. 22 (6): 741–75. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3040.1999.00419.x.
• Jefferson T. Turner (February 2002). "Zooplankton Fecal Pellets, Marine Snow and Sinking Phytoplankton Blooms" (PDF). Aquatic Microbial Ecology. 27 (1): 57–102. doi:10.3354/ame027057.
• Paul Falkowski; et al. (2003). "4. Phytoplankton and Their Role in Primary, New and Export Production". In Fasham, M. J. R. (ed.). Ocean Biogeochemistry. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-42398-0.
• Markels, M; R T Barber (2001). "Sequestration of CO₂ by Ocean Fertilization". Proc 1st Nat. Conf. on Carbon Sequestration. Washington, DC.

Ocean carbon cycle modeling

• Andrew Watson; James Orr (2003). "5. Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in the Global Ocean". In Fasham, M. J. R. (ed.). Ocean Biogeochemistry. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-42398-0.
• J.L. Sarmiento; J.C. Orr (December 1991). "Three-Dimensional Simulations of the Impact of Southern Ocean Nutrient Depletion on Atmospheric CO₂ and Ocean Chemistry". Limnology and Oceanography. 36 (8): 1928–50. Bibcode:1991LimOc..36.1928S. doi:10.4319/lo.1991.36.8.1928. JSTOR 2837725. EMsmile (talk) 17:35, 30 May 2022 (UTC)

Concerns section edition

Corrected the HAB/SOFeX passage in the Concerns section. The previous text stated that SOFeX "demonstrated that iron fertilisation can lead to the rapid growth of harmful algae" — this overstates the finding. SOFeX documented growth of Pseudo-nitzschia, a genus that includes some HAB-capable species, but the relevant papers (Trick et al. 2010) explicitly noted no toxin production was observed and the ecological significance was uncertain. The passage as written also contradicted the article's own introduction, which correctly states no significant harmful side effects were observed across 13 trials. Hypoxic zone language qualified to reflect its theoretical status in open-ocean OIF contexts. Sources: Trick et al. 2010; NASEM 2021. Adumoul (talk) 14:11, 18 June 2026 (UTC)