Pirate's Cove

What could possibly go wrong with this? Seriously, I read enough science fiction books and watch enough scifi movies and TV shows to know that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. And some scientist screwing around with things better left alone. Especially when you’re dealing with a most fake issue

Scientists Seeking Permit to Dump Chemical Into Ocean in Experiment to Fight Climate Change

Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution want to dump 6,600 gallons of sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as caustic soda or lye, into the ocean off the coast of Cape Cod in an effort to slow climate change.

The unusual plan will likely face significant headwinds, not just from US regulators but from local fishing communities and environmentalists as well, as local news station WBUR reports.

The idea is deceptively simple: by diluting extremely basic chemicals in the waters, they’re looking to increase the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the air above, a process known as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE).

It’s just one of several geoengineering efforts aimed at slowing the advancement of climate change, but whether these efforts will pay off in the long run remains to be seen — and critics remain skeptical and concerned about the possible risks involved.

You know, like ocean killing and then Earth killing doom

The team of Woods Hole researchers maintains that the sodium hydroxide won’t have any lasting negative effects on marine life.

“We care about the environment, too,” co-principal investigator and recently retired Woods Hole scientist Dan McCorkle told WBUR. “We wouldn’t be doing this if we thought there was going to be a big impact [on marine life].”

Yeah, well, just keep playing in the laboratory, buddy. The entire ecosphere of the oceans is a bit more complicated. As far as “lasting negative effects”, that sure sounds like there will be some immediate negative effects.

The team is adamant that we must act now before it’s too late.

“Given our seeming inability or unwillingness to rapidly shift away from fossil fuel burning, which we absolutely have to do, it may be important to start studying whether any of these methods really are going to be helpful,” McCorkle told WBUR, “whether they’re going to help get carbon out of the atmosphere.”

The opposition to their plan, however, is already building, with the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association arguing in a recent letter to the EPA that more work needs to be done “before truckloads of liquid alkaline can be dumped in the ocean.”

Have you ever hear the term slow is smooth, smooth is fast? Take your time, kiddies. By the time you get it right the Earth will probably be entering a Holocene cool period.

OAE on the other hand aims to slow down the oceans’ waning ability to absorb human-induced CO2 emissions. When the gas is dissolved in seawater, the resulting carbonic acid causes the ocean’s acidity to increase, which can have devastating impacts on marine life.

The added sodium hydroxide is meant to reverse this process, or at least mitigate it.

The problem they’re missing is that there have been multiple warm periods since the end of the last glacial age, ones that were just as warm if not warmer than the current one, and the oceans and life have done fine. Don’t mess with things.