Ocean Pastures Are A Part Of Nature

Think of them as analogous to pastures on land

A vital part of the ocean ecosystem where the majority of ocean life is found.

The painting at the top of this segment shows the erupting Alaska volcano Kasatochi and its mineral-rich ash that is falling into the ocean and stimulating a rich bloom of plankton, the grass of ocean pastures. All of ocean life is drawn to such dusted pastures where food is in abundance.

While the North-East Atlantic doesn’t have nearby volcanos to dust its ocean pastures, those pastures nonetheless still rely on dust in the wind for vital trace mineral nutrients. In fact, a vitally important source of iron-rich dust for Atlantic pastures is dust that blows from halfway around the world originating in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

But today everywhere on Earth high and rising CO2 in the air is feeding plants in dusty regions like the Gobi. The CO2 enhanced growth of grass is making for good ground cover which in simple terms  MORE GRASS GROWING MEANS LESS DUST BLOWING.

The result in the North Pacific and North Atlantic is the missing dust in the wind means our ocean pastures are dying and becoming clear blue deserts, incapable of sustaining the sea life that only decades ago was in vast abundance.

While we can hardly imagine a rationale that would make the Gobi Desert give up its new grass so that its dust would once again blow in the wind, we can replenish some of the missing dust to the ocean pastures most in need.

Here is how we do it.