Oceanic biodiversity on parade; Shuttle rescue plans; No Fe for me

1. Once again, it sounds like a great idea. The problem is implementation.

Fight to save the 'Amazon of the oceans'

"The area is known as the Coral Triangle, and stretching across six nations between the Indian and Pacific oceans -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands -- it is impressive in scale. About half the size of the continental United States, the triangle is home to more than half the world's coral reefs, three-quarters of its coral species and key stocks of fish that help feed the world. "People have compared the Coral Triangle's biodiversity richness to the Amazon," said Abdul Halim, the head of The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) Coral Triangle Centre.

So let's preserve it! Problem: "About 120 million people living in the Coral Triangle depend on the seas for their livelihoods, and although they are among the greatest potential victims of the collapse of local ecosystems, they also often play the role of vandals. Spread out on thousands of islands across porous national borders, many living in impoverished communities have turned to poisoning fish with cyanide or blowing them up with dynamite, said Marthen Welly, who runs a TNC programme at Nusa Lembongan and its neighbouring islands."

Answer: "The approach of non-governmental organisations and governments has been to try to introduce alternative livelihoods and get communities on board in protecting the environment through so-called Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)."

But: "But even if other areas -- which in most Coral Triangle countries tend to be much poorer -- can replicate the successes of Nusa Lembongan, the root of the problem remains with climate change and a growing global population hungry for fish, WWF's Soede said."

So thus: Eat mor chikn, ZPG, and ZEG. Seems simple, doesn't it?

2. Let's hope they don't need to:

The Hubble Rescue Mission: What Could Happen?

"If the rescue flight is required, NASA would begin the three-day countdown toward Endeavour's launch. Ferguson and his rescue crew already plan to be here at the launch site ready to fly, Moses said. Meanwhile, Altman and his crew would power down Atlantis to conserve their supplies. If the rescue mission launches within the first two or three days of the Hubble flight, Atlantis could keep its crew alive for nearly a month [Marooned scenario]. But if the damage is discovered later, during a standard late heat shield inspection, the shuttle will likely only have 16 days of air left, Altman said in an interview."

A conference of note related to the above: Space Debris and the Future of Space Flight

3. Yet more confirmation that the highly attractive geoengineering idea of ocean iron fertilization is unviable. This is a really good summary; I recommend reading the whole thing.

Iron Hypothesis Dealt a Blow

Highlight: "Bishop says these observations point to an important lesson: "Iron is not the only factor that determines phytoplankton growth in HNLC regions. Light, mixing, and hungry zooplankton are fundamentally as important as iron." The Iron Hypothesis isn't wrong, but it's much more subtle than usually stated. Achieving optimum carbon sedimentation from plankton growth may require the right "recipe" of iron and other trace nutrients to grow the right kind of phytoplankton. Says Bishop, "You can grow a lot of Brussels sprouts, but kids won't eat it. The same appears to be the case with diatom phytoplankton and zooplankton. It's the zooplankton community that determines carbon sedimentation."

More correctly, it's the poop from the zooplankton community that determines carbon sedimentation!