No SPICE in our skies, say environmental justice groups (ETC Group/Econexus) Over 50 concerned groups from around the world are calling on people to sign an open letter (here) asking the UK Government and Research Councils to scrap the controversial SPICE experiment...
Geoengineering Technologies
Geo-engineering: green versus greed in the race to cool the planet
by John Vidal The alert on the Climate Ark website in January 2009 was marked urgent: "Take action: A rogue science ship is poised to carry out risky experimental fertilisation of the Southern Ocean. This is likely [to be] the first of many coming attempts to begin...
Tar sands with biochar? The growing links between biochar advocates and the Canadian tar sands industry
"Biochar could offset Canada's tar sands programme for 14.5 years." — Lloyd Helferty, Advisory Committee Member of the International Biochar Initiative (video) Background: What is biochar? Biochar – a PR term for charcoal added to soils - is being promoted as the...
Ocean fertilization experiment suspended
German science ministry demands environmental assessment before nutrient dumping can begin. by Quirin Schiermeier (Nature) The German science ministry has suspended a planned Indo–German ocean fertilization experiment in the Southern Ocean, and asked the German...
Ocean fertilization experiment draws fire
Indo-German research cruise sets sail despite criticism. by Quirin Schiermeier (Nature) A German research ship laden with 20 tonnes of iron sulphate has whipped up a storm of protest as it sails towards the Antarctic, where it intends to dump its cargo into the ocean....
Convention discourages ocean fertilization
International treaty aims to put rules on geoengineering. by Quirin Schiermeier (Nature) The parties to the London Convention, an international treaty that governs ocean pollution, have agreed that large-scale ocean ‘fertilization’ isn't yet justified, given gaps in...
WWF opposes dumping of urea in Sulu Sea
by Jerome Aning (Inquirer) MANILA, Philippines -- The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) added its voice Saturday to the growing number of environmental groups opposing the dumping of urea in Sulu Sea. “The potential environmental impact of dumping 500 tons of urea...
Civil Society Petition: Withhold Endorsement of the Ocean Nourishment Project in Sulu Sea, Philippines
by International Tawi-Tawi Organization We, civil society organizations working on various development issues across the Philippines, recently learned about the Ocean Nourishment Project being promoted by the Australian for-profit entity Ocean Nourishment Corporation...
London Convention: Climate campaigners oppose meddling with the oceans
Indymedia UK On Monday 5th November climate change campaigners from Camp for Climate Action, Rising Tide and BioFuel Watch took action against geo-engineering (deliberate modification of Earth's environment on a large scale) companies who are hoping to make a great...
Planktos is a No Show in the Galapagos
by Sea Shepherd The Planktos ship and its cargo of 100 tons of iron ore dust was scheduled to begin deployment of its controversial cargo the first week of August. It was for this reason that Sea Shepherd Conservation Society decided to keep our ship the Farley Mowat...
Plan to Dump Iron in Ocean as Climate Fix Attracts Debate
by Kelly Hearn (National Geographic News) Global warming is heating up opportunities for companies that can find ways to pull carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere and sell "carbon credits" on emerging markets. But one company's attempt to dip its toes into...
Iron to Plankton To Carbon Credits
Firm's Emission Plans Have Critics Aplenty by Steven Mufson (Washington Post) A small California company is planning to mix up to 80 tons of iron particles into the Pacific Ocean 350 miles west of the Galapagos islands to see whether it can make a splash in the...
ECUADOR: Doubts Surround Carbon Absorption Project Near Galapagos
by Stephen Leahy (IPS News) PUERTO AYORA, Galápagos, Ecuador, Jul 13 2007 (IPS) - Later this month a U.S. company, Planktos Inc., plans to dump 100 tonnes of iron dust into the ocean near Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands, despite opposition from environmental groups and...
WWF condemns Planktos Inc. iron-seeding plan in the Galapagos
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) today announced its opposition to a plan by Planktos Inc. to dump iron dust in the open ocean west of the Galapagos Islands. The experiment seeks to induce phytoplankton blooms in the hopes that the microscopic marine plants will absorb...
Company plans ‘eco’ iron dump off Galapagos
by Catherine Brahic (New Scientist) Update 25 June 2007: The scientific working group of the London Convention expressing its concern regarding "the potential for large-scale ocean iron fertilisation to have negative impacts on the marine environment and human health"...
Open reply to Planktos
by Jim Thomas (ETC Group) As well as dealing with Monsanto in Munich this week, ETC Group has also been raising the alarm about a massive geo-engineering experiment scheduled for this month around Galapagos by Planktos Inc. The New York Times carried a very uncritical...
Ex-researcher Says US Seeded Clouds over Cuba
LOS ANGELES (UPI) – The United States secretly used cloud seeding to dry up the Cuban sugar crop in 1969 and 1970, Lowell Ponte, a former Pentagon think tank researcher, said yesterday. Ponte, a former specialist for the International Research and Technology Corp.,...