Climate Restoration & Ocean Fertilization: FAQ

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  Climate Restoration means restoring Earth’s atmospheric CO2 to preindustrial levels that humans have actually experienced and survived (below 300 ppm, i.e. parts per million). To that end, and to help restore depleted fisheries and ocean mammal populations, ocean fertilization refers to spreading trace amounts of carefully selected minerals and other nutrients to small, monitored areas of the ocean to stimulate the growth of micro-algae called phytoplankton, which form the base of the food chain for all ocean organisms and  which also absorb large amounts of CO2 through photosynthesis. (also see FAQ #3).  

 It’s true that we urgently need to reduce CO2 emissions to “net zero” by 2050 (a stated goal of the United Nations), but this alone will NOT restore our climate or bring back ocean abundance. Even if this net-zero target is reached, atmospheric CO2  will just level off at around 450 ppm, a level humans have never experienced and that the planet has not seen in at least the last three million years. Until the industrial revolution, the human-friendly CO2 level never exceeded 300 ppm. Therefore, in addition to halting any further CO2 emissions, we must massively reduce the CO2 already emitted, another goal now recognized by the United Nations. In research  completed so far and evaluated by the National Academy of Sciences in a 2022 report (see link at the end of the "Learn More" page), ocean fertilization has emerged as the most promising, natural, safe and cost-effective way to do this. Such fertilization can dramatically help restore the phytoplankton population (currently about 1/2 of what it was in the 1950's) which in turn helps restore an abundance of ocean life.

Certain minerals and other  trace nutrients are essential for phytoplankton photosynthesis and many areas of the ocean are deficient in these ingredients. That deficiency, combined with decades of over-fishing and whaling and ocean warming have led to a crash in ocean organisms. Therefore, adding tiny amounts of these essential ingredients in these deficient areas can help this micro-algae grow.

As the base of the ocean’s food chain, the new phytoplankton feed all the other lifeforms in the ocean, from zooplankton to whales. When these animals respire, defecate and decay below a few hundred feet deep, the carbon they gained from the phytoplankton stays in the ocean water for hundreds of years. The more fish the phytoplankton feed, the more carbon is stored away.  The phytoplankton that is not eaten by the food chain sink to the ocean bottom, storing away carbon for very long periods of time.  Thus, ocean fertilization not only helps restore an abundance of ocean life, it also helps reduce atmospheric CO2 levels.

 Over the last million years, Nature has stimulated phytoplankton growth using such essential ingredients from volcanic eruptions and dust storms. The resulting removal of atmospheric CO2 was sufficient to cause 10 ice ages, about one every 100k years.  Intentional ocean fertilization simply mimics nature and accelerates this process. 

 To be “effective,” a proposed Climate Restoration strategy must meet at least 3 key criteria. It must remove carbon from the atmosphere for long periods of time; it must be deployable on a scale commensurate with the size of the problem; and it must be financeable/affordable. So far, ocean fertilization is one of the few strategies identified that appears to meet all these criteria. It can remove carbon and store it away in the deep ocean for very long periods of time. It can be deployed on a scale adequate to the challenge. Lastly, this strategy would require only minimal public funds to do additional research into environmental impacts and fine tune the logistics of deployment. Thereafter, costs of full deployment are estimated at about $1 billion/year, which will likely be offset many times over by the proceeds from a revitalized fishing industry.

Because ocean fertilization mimics Nature, it's not surprising that in all 13 tests since 1993, no negative environmental impacts have been reported. In stark contrast, the “industrial revolution” was and is an ongoing massive, uncontrolled, unintentional “geo-engineering” experiment which has resulted in warming oceans and climate disruption. Adding  essential ingredients to what have become ocean deserts mimics a natural process, analogous to fertilizing a farm field. Toxic algae blooms only occur in shallow coastal waters when decomposing algae uses up the oxygen marine life needs. Ocean fertilization is only proposed for the deep ocean. Even deployed at full scale, it's deployment is only contemplated on about 1% of the world’s ocean surface. In 1990, Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted and spread much more of these essential ingredients over the ocean surface than the contemplated research involves, with no negative effects identified, and many positive ones. That said, as we learn more, adjustments will of course be made to address any unforeseen negative consequences. Data collection and well-funded research should always be a key part of any application of these ingredients to the ocean. As always, the key to safety is to “follow the data.”