From Guy Cox, Sydney, Australia
John Koster says the time is right to try a massive and untested interference with marine ecosystems by seeding waters with iron to encourage plankton growth to capture carbon (Letters, 17 and 24 July). Yet such geoengineering risks perpetuating fossil-fuelled lifestyles.
Koster proposes that this takes place in the Southern Ocean. However, some of us do live in the southern hemisphere. What’s more, the Southern Ocean is the summer feeding ground for many whale species, whose populations are just beginning to recover. As a (former) marine biologist, I have to rate this as a truly horrible idea. We solve the climate crisis by not using fossil fuels, period.
