Southern Ocean may be safest place for ocean iron fertilisation carbon removal, study finds

A new study in Nature suggests the Southern Ocean could be the safest place on Earth to remove carbon from the atmosphere using ocean iron fertilisation. The method involves adding iron to iron-poor ocean waters to stimulate phytoplankton growth, which absorbs CO2 during photosynthesis. Some of that carbon then sinks into the deep ocean for long-term storage. The study compared different ocean regions and found that the Southern Ocean offers the best balance of high carbon removal efficiency and limited ecological disruption. Other regions showed more significant and longer-lasting impacts on marine ecosystems. The research adds practical detail to a long-debated climate intervention strategy, though questions remain about scalability, monitoring, and governance.