Could Large-Scale Oxygen Pumps Fix the Baltic Sea's Dead Zones?
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles 
on 12.21.08
Image from NASA
It seemed like just yesterday geo-engineering was one of those taboo subjects you couldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Now, though still far from being widely embraced, it has been recognized by many governments and reputable research institutions as a potential last ditch alternative to conventional climate mitigation strategies. One consequence has been that more and more scientists have been turning to these highly unconventional methods as a way to address other seemingly intractable problems, like dead zones.
Image from elsamuko
A team of researchers at the University of Gothenburg, for example, is considering a proposal to install hundreds—if not thousands—of pumps in the Baltic Sea (dubbed the world's "most damaged sea" in a recent WWF report) that would pipe in oxygen-rich water at depth. The hope is that they would eliminate the massive dead zones that have been plaguing the region for years. (Seven of the world's ten largest dead zones are found in the Baltic Sea.)
The pilot project, called "Box," and funded by the Swedish Research Council Formas and the Swedish National Environmental Protection Agency (to the tune of SEK 20 million, or about $2.6 million), will begin operating within the coming months.
Though the Baltic Sea is typically characterized by large summer algal blooms—the result of high phosphate levels (which fuel eutrophication)—the scientists noticed a lull during the 1990s that coincided with a marked decline in its phosphorus content; the cause, they believe, was a more pronounced thermocline that increased the Baltic's oxygen content down to a depth of 120 meters.
Might it be possible then, they mused, to relieve the Baltic's eutrophication symptoms (so-called because of its extremely low oxygen content) by pumping in a steady supply of cold, oxygen-rich water? Mixing oxygen-rich bodies of water at depth could help keep the water column well-aerated, which, in turn, would prevent the formation of its dead zone. The pilot project's main objective will be to see whether it is possible to keep the Baltic in a high oxygen state—something that, given all the other factors at play (current movement, basin dynamics, marine life, etc), could prove extremely tricky.
This is how Anders Stigebrandt, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Gothenburg and Box's director, described it:
We are going to investigate how you succeed in retaining the phosphorus in the bottom sediment under different external circumstances, with and without artificial oxygenation, in two coastal basins. Among other things we will be using the prototype of a wind-driven pump, but we will also investigate how a full-scale pump system in the Baltic proper might be designed.
Via ScienceDaily
More about dead zones and the Baltic Sea
Lithuanian Man to Swim Across Baltic Sea for the Environment
Ocean “Dead Zones” Increasing: 400 Oxygen-Deprived Areas Now Exist
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This is a terrible idea. All ideas to change the climate on a global scale are bad ideas. We just don't know enought to do it. You will cause more problems then you will fix.
Interesting. I live in Helsinki, so we hear a lot about the dead zone, but I confess I haven't heard this yet. My first reaction is that this money would be better spent cleaning up our watershed and let the Baltic heal herself.
Similar idea to the auto bailout in the US, a stopgap measure which merely delays the ultimate problem, while piling up debt. Basically a bet and a hope that our better behavior in the future will minimize the consequences of what we did yesterday.
Natural systems will correct this if given time (and the elimination of the original cause!), and investing energy will only add greenhouse gases which are a serious problem as well. Perhaps if these pumps were powered by solar energy this would be a real help, but even then the IR deficit created by the solar plant might keep the problem bad, by limiting the natural heat source that helps with mixing.