GUEST COLUMN
BY ANTON KAISER
Sometimes, while sifting through the daily news, one comes across a sparkling gem. In this case, it is a news article written by Terry Dillman in the Newport News-Times. Newport is a small town of 10,000 nestled on the Oregon coast. Tourism, fishing and wood products are its major industries. Naturally these folks take a serious interest in the ocean’s environment.
Dillman’s article is titled “Scientists urge caution with sea fertilizing.” There are some scientists who believe that seeding the ocean with iron will improve phytoplankton blooms and thereby increase carbon absorption in response to alleged global warming. Scientists are testing the theory and Dillman has pieced together an excellently researched, entertaining, objective, and well written article that any layperson can understand explaining why it may not be such a good idea. Highly recommended reading.
It’s a fascinating look at how a local portion of the ocean works. More fascinating (at least to me) is how differently the Oregon and California rivers react with the same ocean. Unlike California rivers, Oregon rivers are rich in iron and feed onto an expanding continental shelf that actually traps more iron than is actually used by phytoplankton, suggesting that phytoplankton populations have their own growth limits despite the availability of excess iron.
But how often do we as a nation adopt California environmental laws and policies assuming they are applicable everywhere? Obviously, experimental geoengineering results from one place don’t necessarily apply to similar places on our planet, even where it concerns how phytoplankton and iron react with rivers and oceans.
Of course, the real danger from global warming alarmists is the greater danger that we might do something stupid to the natural processes of our planet.
Says Pete Strutton of Oregon State University's College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences:
...it's possible to trigger plant growth in the oceans by adding nutrients, but...it's not easy to control what grows and what doesn't.
"We already know that adding iron to the ocean usually alters the species composition of the phytoplankton community...”
Like possibly creating toxic planktons, such as those of the notorious “red tide” variety.
Meanwhile we already have commercial businesses springing up, like the Ocean Nourishment Corporation (Australia), Planktos (US) and Climos (US), some of whom have already dumped nitrogen-rich urea into the oceans to promote plankton growth and “save the planet.”
Interestingly, those very same environmental activists who set off the global warming scare are the very same environmental activists now fighting against this unintended consequence from their extremist alarms. What’s that old saying: “Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.” But isn’t that to be expected? First they cause the problem, then they fight the solution. It’s a highly lucrative business.
However, as concerns stopping sea fertilization, we can hope they win.
Anton Kaiser was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and retired in Rapid City after serving twenty-seven years as a U.S. Army infantry officer. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, and holds Masters Degrees in Business and in Public Administration from Webster College, St. Louis, MO. He is also a veteran of Vietnam, Berlin, Operation Just Cause (Panama) and an honor graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS.
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