Rogue ship sails into storm over experiment
Bobby Jordan Published:Jan 11, 2009
Critics say dumping fertiliser into ocean to ‘fix’ climate change is fraught with risk
South Africa is caught up in a diplomatic row over a rogue science ship that slipped out of Cape Town harbour to conduct a controversial climate change experiment.
The ship set sail on Wednesday night in breach of a UN ban on “fertilising” the ocean — and South Africa has been asked to intercept the vessel.
The German-flagged RV Polarstern is loaded with iron sulphate it plans to dump deep in the Southern Ocean during a 70-day research experiment conducted by German and Indian scientists.
The 20-ton chemical cargo — normally used to treat lawns and sewage — is likely to provoke a massive algal bloom big enough to be seen from outer space. Scientists are hoping the algae will provide a quick fix to climate change by absorbing carbon into the sea, rather than letting it escape as gas into the earth’s atmosphere.
But this week several top scientists around the world lambasted the mission as “crackpot science”.
Nutrients like iron or nitrogen provoke the growth of phytoplankton, algae-like single-celled organisms that are a major source of food in the ocean — in a process similar to fertilising a garden. The idea is that carbon in the air and water is turned into phytoplankton which ends up in the ocean food chain instead of in the earth’s atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.
However, many scientists say the amount of carbon “secured” in this way is negligible, while the fertilisation process may have harmful effects — such as the production of other harmful gases that would worsen climate change.
In addition, this process could also see marine creatures grow in tremendous numbers, incorporating carbon into their bodies. While the long-term implications of this system are unclear, scientists fear that more carbon under the ocean could worsen climate change and influence the marine food chain.
Environmental groups say that the Polarstern has violated a UN agreement, signed by 191 nations and brokered by Germany last May , prohibiting large-scale ocean fertilisation experiments. South Africa is a signatory.
The UN secretariat on biological diversity has asked the German government whether they authorised the trip.
The Johannesburg-based African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) appealed to the minister of environmental affairs and tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, to intercept the German ship. But the department told the Sunday Times it was powerless to intervene.
Ishaam Abader, deputy director-general in Marine and Coastal Management, said: “ MCM is aware of experiments going on in the Southern seas on this subject (but) no one is or has been made aware of this mission. ”
He said MCM supported the moratorium but would not monitor the Polarstern as it was operating outside South African territorial waters.
ACB director Mariam Mayet said: “It is our view that South Africa is in clear violation of the moratorium.. . which prohibits ocean fertilisation.”
Mayet said ACB had alerted the department while the ship was still in port.
The Sunday Times found the ship at Duncan Dock in Cape Town harbour before her departure for the Scotia Sea between Argentina and Antarctica.
Dr Pedro Monteiro, head of Ocean Systems and Climate Research at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, who visited the ship, said there was both concern and excitement about the potential impact of ocean fertilisation in curbing global warming.
Large-scale “geo-engineering” projects like sea fertilisation have recently also been banned by the International Maritime Organisation, which is still preparing a detailed protocol on how to move forward responsibly.
However, in e-mail correspondence forwarded to the Sunday Times, the German expedition leader claims to have received permission from German and Indian authorities.
Environmental groups say these governments were not in a position to grant permission.
David Santillo from Greenpeace International said: “There’s a huge danger we’re facing.. . as a global society that we put our faith in something that is at best speculative and at worst highly damaging to ocean ecosystems.”
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jordanb@sundaytimes.co.za[/QUOTE]
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=915801
Our navy is asleep again.
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