TUBING THE OCEAN?Increasing urgency about climate change has spurred proposals, which may have seemed radical not too long ago, to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In a recent issue of the journal Nature, scientists James Lovelock and Chris Rapley proposed putting thousands of giant plastic tubes in the ocean. Wave motion and a one-way valve would push deep water through the tubes to the surface, bringing up essential nutrients to stimulate blooms of tiny marine plants. These phytoplankton would help draw down heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the air and also emit a chemical called dimethyl sulfide, which stimulates the formation of clouds that would block solar radiation and help cool the planet, the scientists say. (Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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