Marine Dumping

What does dumping several hundred tons of industrially-produced synthetic urea in the sea or ocean do? The as-yet untested geoengineering experiment is supposed to promote phytoplankton,which is CO2 absorbent,sequester carbon in the ocean depths. This is apparently,in a bid,to reduce global warming and consequent climatic changes. However, its effects on marine life and other plant life residing on the ocean bed has not been studied up until now. International scientific bodies, including the International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)have warned that toxic tides and lifeless oceans might instead result from such activities.

The government of Philippines has recently approved an Australian company's plan to absorb excess CO2 by dumping massive amounts of urea in the Sulu Sea which is situated to the south-west of the Philippines.The global south is slowly becoming a dumping ground for such risky technologies by the for-profit organisations. Such a trend disguised as a humanitarian one could do more damage than good and is turning the fight of global warming into a commerical enterprise.