Category: Uncategorized

KYOTO PROTOCOL CARBON OFFSETS. "A full-scale international plankton restoration program could regenerate approximately 3–5 billion tons of sequestration capacity worth €50-100 billion in carbon offset value. Given this potential return on investment, carbon traders and offset customers are watching the progress of this technology with interest." Follow the money? " " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOMS FOLLOWED BY VIRAL BLOOMS. "The productive bloom transitioned from a diatom to a pico- and nanoplankton-dominated system, resulting in chlorophyll a concentrations up to 2.43 μg L(-1) . Virus abundances fluctuated c. 10-fold (1.8 × 10(10) -1.3 × 10(11) L(-1) ) over 16 days." The changing phytoplankton populations successions reflect the domination by the fittest species for that environment. " " http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22092871/ View in LinkedIn

IRON'S BIG IMPACT."Therefore small amounts of iron (measured by mass parts per trillion) in "desolate" HNLC zones can trigger large phytoplankton blooms. Recent marine trials suggest that one kilogram of fine iron particles may generate well over 100,000 kilograms of plankton biomass." (Now look back at the 16 supertankers at €20 Bn...)" " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

RAPID LIFE CYCLES FACILITATE ADAPTABILITY. "Oceanic phytoplankton (cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microalgae) are responsible for over half of the Earth's primary production. The high level of biological production by microalgae is principally due to their fast turnover rate of 2–6 d on average, relative to 19 yr for land plants."" " http://lnkd.in/dWGhytf View in LinkedIn

IRON'S BIG IMPACT."Therefore small amounts of iron (measured by mass parts per trillion) in "desolate" HNLC zones can trigger large phytoplankton blooms. Recent marine trials suggest that one kilogram of fine iron particles may generate well over 100,000 kilograms of plankton biomass." (Now look back at the 16 supertankers at €20 Bn...)" " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

PHYTOPLANKTON VIRUSES DATABASE IS THIN. "Putative complete genomes of ssDNA viruses were assembled, almost doubling the number of ssDNA viral genomes in databases. These comprised 129 genetically distinct groups, each represented by at least one complete genome that had no recognizable similarity to each other or to other virus sequences." The tip of the iceberg. Our oceans are almost as unknown to us as Mars. " " http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23842650/ View in LinkedIn

HOW MUCH IRON IS NEEDED? "Current estimates of the amount of iron required to restore all the lost plankton and sequester 3 gigatons/year of CO2 range widely, from approximately 2 hundred thousand tons/year to over 4 million tons/year. The latter scenario involves 16 supertanker loads of iron and a projected cost of approximately €20 billion ($27 billion)." (What am I missing?). " " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

FEW PHYTOPLANKTON VIRUSES CULTURED. "With increased awareness of the potential regulation of phytoplankton dynamics by viruses, efforts have been made to establish virus-phytoplankton model systems in culture. Although virus-like particles have been found in most classes of eukaryotic unicellular photoautotrophs, at present, there are only approximately a dozen phytoplankton viruses in culture. Most of these infect bloom-forming species and about half infect harmful algal bloom species."" " http://aem.asm.org/content/70/6/3700.full View in LinkedIn

IRON SEEDING CALCULATIONS. "If phytoplankton converted all the nitrate and phosphate ... across the entire Antarctic circumpolar current into organic carbon, the resulting carbon dioxide deficit could be compensated by uptake from the atmosphere amounting to about 0.8 to 1.4 gigatonnes of carbon per year. This quantity is comparable in magnitude to annual anthropogenic fossil fuels combustion of approximately 6 gigatonnes... the Antarctic circumpolar current region is only one of several in which iron fertilization could be conducted."" " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

IRON SEEDING: THE SCIENCE."The maximum possible result from iron fertilization, assuming the most favourable conditions and disregarding practical considerations, is 0.29W/m2 of globally averaged negative forcing, which is almost sufficient to reverse the warming effect of about 1/6 of current levels of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. It is notable, however, that the addition of silicic acid or choosing the proper location could, at least theoretically, eliminate and exceed all man-made CO2."" " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn