National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Huge Man-Made Algae Swarm Devoured--Bad for Climate?


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A short time after scientists pumped iron-enhanced water into oceans off Argentina, tiny shrimplike crustaceans called copepods (pictured) wolfed down the resulting algae bloom—and a potential weapon against global warming quickly disappeared.

But some iron-fertilization advocates point out there is still not enough evidence to argue for or against the strategy.

Photograph courtesy G. Mazzochi, SZN / Alfred Wegener Institute