curioser and curioser

In case we needed a reminder that there is so much about our earth we don't yet know: Scientists in England, in conjunction with the United Nations, report the following:

"Melting icebergs, so long the iconic image of global warming, are triggering a natural process that could delay or even end climate change, British scientists have found.

A team working on board the Royal Navy’s HMS Endurance off the coast of Antarctica have discovered tiny particles of iron are released into the sea as the ice melts.

The iron feeds algae, which blooms and sucks up damaging carbon dioxide (CO2), then sinks, locking away the harmful greenhouse gas for hundreds of years."

This is both good news and bad news. It is good news because it might be a new source of carbon capture and sequestration. It is bad news because (1) we don't know what collateral damage the additional iron, algae and ice melt might do to the eco-system and (2) this news may reduce the sense of urgency to reduce co2 emissions. For even at its height, scientists say, this ice melt will only absorb 1/8th of the earth's co2 emissions. There are still thousands and thousands of tons of co2 that we need to avoid producing. And we need to remember not just the toll in emissions, but the cost - both financial and environmental that we pay in extracting and transporting the fossil fuels.

Still and all, the news is intriguing.

For more of the story and a colorful graphic describing the process, can be found at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1104772/Amazing-discovery-green-algae-save-world-global-warming.html?ITO=1490