Oil-burning ships are fertilising the north Pacific with iron – inadvertently putting a proposed geoengineering idea into practice.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and climate are regulated on geological timescales by the balance between carbon input from volcanic and metamorphic outgassing and its removal by weathering feedbacks; these feedbacks involve the erosion of silicate rocks and organic-carbon-bearing rocks. The integrated effect of these processes is reflected in the calcium carbonate compensation depth, which is the oceanic depth at which calcium carbonate is dissolved.

The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, resulted in unprecedented radioactivity releases from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plants to the Northwest Pacific Ocean. Results are presented here from an international study of radionuclide contaminants in surface and subsurface waters, as well as in zooplankton and fish, off Japan in June 2011. A major finding is detection of Fukushima-derived 134Cs and 137Cs throughout waters 30–600 km offshore, with the highest activities associated with near-shore eddies and the Kuroshio Current acting as a southern boundary for transport.

The atmospheric and deep sea reservoirs of carbon dioxide are linked via physical, chemical, and biological processes. The last of these include photosynthesis, particle settling, and organic matter remineralization, and are collectively termed the “biological carbon pump.” Herein, we present results from a 13-y (1992–2004) sediment trap experiment conducted in the permanently oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre that document a large, rapid, and predictable summertime pulse in particulate matter export to the deep sea (4,000 m).

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution humans have released ~500 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere through fossil-fuel burning, cement production and land-use changes. About 30% has been taken up by the oceans. The oceanic uptake of carbon dioxide leads to changes in marine carbonate chemistry resulting in a decrease of seawater pH and carbonate ion concentration, commonly referred to as ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is considered a major threat to calcifying organisms.

Arctic sea ice at its lowest in 2011, says World Meteorological Organization report. The year 2011 has been the 10th warmest year on record in spite of a strong La Nina, which has a relatively cooling influence. In the event of a La Nina, the sea surface temperature is lower than usual in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Also, in 2011, the extent of the Arctic sea ice was the second lowest on record, and its volume was the lowest, revealed a provisional statement by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

More than twenty years ago, a biological regulation of climate was proposed whereby emissions of dimethyl sulphide
from oceanic phytoplankton resulted in the formation of aerosol particles that acted as cloud condensation nuclei in the
marine boundary layer. In this hypothesis—referred to as CLAW—the increase in cloud condensation nuclei led to an
increase in cloud albedo with the resulting changes in temperature and radiation initiating a climate feedback altering