German Ministry SuspendsPlanned Experiment to Seed Ocean With Iron

Germany’s science ministry has abruptly called off a planned experiment to seed the Southern Ocean with iron to gauge if the resulting algal blooms would extract large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Polarstern, an icebreaker operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, was steaming toward the study site with a 48-person scientific team when notification came that the science ministry had canceled the experiment and called for an independent commission to assess the study’s safety. The Polarstern team had planned to dump 20 tons of iron sulfate across a 116-square-mile area and then monitor the impact of the resulting algal bloom on CO2 sequestration and marine life. Some environmentalists have strongly objected to the experiment, saying such so-called geo-engineering schemes could have unknown effects. The groups contended that the Polarstern experiment violated a moratorium on ocean fertilization brokered by Germany last year; their objections led to the suspension of the experiment, which was expected to begin within the week.