Azolla Event. A way to remove CO2 from the air ?

Capt'n Midnight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_event

The Azolla event occurred in the early Eocene period, around 49 million years ago, when blooms of the freshwater fern Azolla occurred in the Arctic ocean. As they sunk to the stagnant sea floor, they were incorporated into the sediment; the resulting draw down of carbon from the atmosphere helped transform the planet from a "Greenhouse Earth" state, hot enough for turtles and palm trees to prosper at the poles, to the "Icehouse Earth" it has been since.

probe

I don't think you'll be very popular with the population of Greenland if you organise an Azolla global mass fern planting event a la LiveAid. They are looking forward to oil exploration, and precious metal mining opportunities as the ice melts in their country. Harvesting the Azolla leftovers. Given that it takes about 800,000 years for Azolla to do the job on CO2, you haven't much to worry about on that front.

CO2 only lasts about 100 years in the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. It won't be an issue in a 1,000 years time - not to mind 800,000 years. If people carry on living like energy Mcslobs, all carbon energy sources will have been exhausted long before that. And while there will be other greenhouse gases (eg water vapour from hydrogen powered aircraft), that vanishes after about six months.

The document is interesting however - more evidence that climate change is far from being totally "man made".

.probe

dhaslam

In the meantime it would be useful to persuade the Irish Government to help fund the planting of Bord na Mona cutaway bogs. It seems that despite some technical difficulties, mainly frost damage, it is quite possible to achieve. It could be funded by a better price for turf from ESB, which should be possible now with rising prices for alternatives. Within ten years or less timber could be harvested and the existing powerstations could be easily adapted to use the fuel.