Its a weird solution, but hey why not?

Imo, wales, wales

Reverse Global Warming by working a false cause (excess atmospheric CO2) and dumping tons of pollution into the ocean creating an excess of plankton we can't harvest and a large loss of fish we already depend on for food. The resultant starvation deaths will yield the desired CO2 reduction. GENIUS!

c.ecker, Columbus, OH, USA

I'm always amazed at how some can fervently rebuff something without even giving it the slightest bit of thought.
Quite possibly as a result of global brain fever......
Plankton is the single most important item in the food chain.
they oxygenate the oceans while removing CO2.
Recently, it has been shown that they produce iodine which forms a haze over the ocean surface and blocks the heat from being absorbed.....and with 70% of the earths surfae being ocean, this could represent a drastic reduction in the warming trend.
iron oxide seeding is nothing new as it generally opccurs from the river deltas but with all the toxification of our oceans, it would be nice to try and restore some balance by asistance.

Just imagine, reflecting heat, adding both oxygen and food for the oceans fish and other sea life.
I dare say we might even see an increase in ocean stocks due to this extra injection of much needed supply of food.

But oh no! Lets first see the downer.
Pazz

pazz, london, uk

Strange. Seems our best thinkers have come up with some pretty esoteric ideas. Why don't they encourage the planting of more trees, especially in areas where timbering is wiping out millions of acres of oxygen producing CO2 reducing forests?

Steve, LA, CA

Storing CO2 under the sea also means storing the oxygen in the molecule. Maybe after 50 years of this process, we'll all suffocate ;-)

K. Alexander, London,

The only viable short term solution where electricity generation is concerned, is to go nuclear. Why do the greens go against the sensible option of nuclear power?

Richard, Kidderminster, England

So...I don't need to buy any mercury bulbs?

This whole idea of dumping crap in the ocean scares me. Talk about cutting your nose to spite your face. What is the extra iron going to do for other algaes and bacteria in the water? Other types of plankton and all the animals? What happens when the iron gets evaporated and starts to rain in cities? What happens when the iron dissapates and starts showing up in beaches? What happens when you swim in it?

Come on, really! Talk about grasping for straws. Just a few weeks ago, I read about how the Chinese have figured out how to make it snow by shooting ionic crap into the clouds- the clouds then hold it there and then it snows.

Twice as many people die from the cold, every year, than they do from the heat.

Jenny Bea, Stamford, CT

Worst idea ever. Trying to cover up for humanities mistakes with a quick one solution fix all program is not going to help anything. Why don't we just stop being so damn greedy and let the planet fix itself like it has always done.

Jason T, Orlando, FL

There is proof on a confidence level of, say, the IPCC's 1st or 2nd reports on global warming that iron fertilization can have a significant positive impact on reducing CO2. Where convenient, that level of confidence is embraced by the Greenpeace collective as a signal for immediate, massive action. But where it is inconvenient to their agenda, it's no proof at all.

Study the phenomenon so we understand it better, develop improved methods of fertilization, and let's improve the CO2 picture at a much more affordable cost. Why should we reduce atmospheric CO2 more expensively than we have to?

TMLutas, Munster, IN, USA

Reminds me of when they dumped tires off the coast of Florida to create artifical reefs to foster coral development, all it did was backfire horribly, the tires are still rotting in the deep and they are now being removed.

Henri Himmler, Germantown, US / New York

The idea of "seeding" the ocean with Iron to boost phytoplankton growth and "sink" carbon is the most sensible and practical idea anyone has had regarding the issue of rising CO2.
This is what has happened in history when trees fell into bogs and became coal and when sea creatures dropped to the bottom of the ocean and became oil.
All the other ideas to reduce atmospheric CO2 are a "drop in the ocean" compared to this one

Ricky G, Whitefield, Greater Manchester

The first emporer of China thought mercury would extend his life indefinately, so surely dumping tons of iron into the sea would save the planet....

Will, Huntingdon,

A more interesting and precautionary approach would be John Munford's - fetilise the ocean with iron in "ocean deserts" [areas which don't have much growing phytoplankton because they lack iron] and then harvest the resultant algal blooms for use as biofuel. The diesel would emit far less net CO2 than conventional fossil fuels, vastly reducing the amount we're adding to the atmosphere. John suggests a prototype would cost perhaps 60m quid.

This should avoid most potential problems of adding iron to the ocean because you immediately remove it again in the shape of the algae which have absorbed it to grow. Hence little new material will enter the ocean ecosystem over the cycle.

[I have no affiliation with John or his company: see also last week's Economist reporting on the Oxford Renewable Energy Association Conference where he spoke].

Fernley Symons, London, UK

The knee-jerk negative reaction of environmentalists against a possible "cure" to "global warming" exposes their true intentions.

They're not interested in any solution that does not involve the destruction of capitalism or America. It's time this religion were eliminated

jeff, River City, USA

Our current climate change problems would fade to insignificance if the scientists are allowed to continue their "how about trying this..." philosophy.
The roll of our oceans on the environment is far too little understood to be played with indiscriminately.

Mike Poulsen, Reading, Berkshire

So a few kilo's of Iron (Sulphate?) dropped on route during each long distance overseas flight will offset the Carbon Dioxide produced by that journey?

Or is this just too simple?

M. Sheridan, Oldham,

Again, as a Ocean and Marine estuarine scientist, I can say that Americans are trying to find ways to "curb climate change" by wrong means. Cut your fuel usage and stop fiddling with the environment. Next they are going to dump iron in the Galapagos where huge upwellings exist, very smart America!

Shelly, Leesburg/Brit, VA