Stressed kelp cause more reflective cloud formation. Could their growth be boosted on a large scale as a way to cause global cooling?
Scientists at The University of Manchester have helped to identify that the presence of large amounts of seaweed in coastal areas can influence the climate.
A new international study has found that large brown seaweeds, when under stress, release large quantities of inorganic iodine into the coastal atmosphere, where it may contribute to cloud formation.
A scientific paper published online today (Monday 6 May 2008) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) identifies that iodine is stored in the form of iodide – single, negatively charged ions.
Can you think of a way to increase the area of kelp growth in order to boost cloud formation? Seems hard to do. The press release says the kelp need intertidal zones. Most of the ocean seems unsuited and hard to make suitable.
The paper’s co-author, Dr Gordon McFiggans, an atmospheric scientist from The University of Manchester’s School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (SEAES) said: “The findings are applicable to any coastal areas where there are extensive kelp beds. In the UK, these are typically place like the Hebrides, Robin Hood's Bay and Anglesey. The kelps need rocky intertidal zones to prosper - sandy beaches aren't very good.
“The increase in the number of cloud condensation nuclei may lead to ‘thicker’ clouds. These are optically brighter, reflecting more sunlight upwards and allowing less to reach the ground, and last for longer. In such a cloud there are a higher number of small cloud droplets and rainfall is suppressed, compared with clouds of fewer larger droplets.
“The increase in cloud condensation nuclei by kelps could lead to more extensive, longer lasting cloud cover in the coastal region – a much moodier, typically British coastal skyline.”
A flat area near a coastline, if flooded, might be convertible into a massive kelp bed. Seems very expensive to do though.
By Randall Parker at 2008 May 06 10:20 PM Engineering Climate | TrackBackIt would probably be easier to just release iodine ourselves, were that to prove useful.
I don't know about that; Isn't kelp the primary source of Iodine? You'd probably have to farm it just to have a large enough supply to release artificially. Perhaps floating undersea nets, (Coarse, of course, to avoid trapping fish!) to provide growing surface? It would have the advantage of boosting the productivity of the ocean, too.
By the way, have I mentioned that your security code generation at least appears to be a long ways from random?
Isn't kelp the primary source of Iodine?
No, most iodine is produced as a byproduct of nitrate mining in Chile, or from subterranean brines. Iodine from kelp is not currently competitive with these sources, although it would provide a long term source of the element.
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/iodine/mcs-2008-iodin.pdf
(The figure for iodine content of the oceans at that link is off by a factor of 1000, btw; it should have been 34 billion metric tons.)
Excellent post.
This could be a path to solving several of Earth's problems. Let's look at the possibilities.
Some parts of the world's oceans are suffering from over-fertilization. Kelp may be the key to removing the nutrients and improve ocean health. The kelp could be harvested for energy, food, or other possible uses, taking pressure off of land agriculture. Fish populations and molusks could thrive in and around the kelp.
The usual kelp need nutrients and anchoring at the sea floor. Fortunately, the nutrients can be had without tapping into the critically over-burdened fertilizer supply. That's because ocean water is rich with its own nutrients, but they lie at depths below 1500 feet. Kelp farming could be done in or near deep water by circulating the deep water to the surface. The deep, cold water would encourage additional fog and cloudiness over the kelp.
It should be practical to grow kelp in deep water by providing an artificial anchoring structure.
All of this additional plant growth, if done on a massive scale, could help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere while providing renewable fuels and other materials.
Kelp farms could be the answer (both plants and fish) for the additional food needs of the world. This could help to remove pressure for clearing of tropical forest and savanna for farming.
Ernie Rogers
Set up a linked array of buoyant holdfasts planted with kelp. Have them be some material like pumice which would slowly saturate and sink, but at the same rate as the kelp grows taller, and thus open deeper waters to kelp beds. Experiment to find the maximum height by that means, choose the tallest-growing and breed for lineages which can grow in deeper and deeper water. Maybe they could eventually be planted in 600 foot deep water out to the edge of the continental shelf.