At first, I thought that this was false news, as the story has the trimmings of it. A Canadian minerals company, Planetary Technologies, plans to dump tonnes of magnesium hydroxide into St Ives Bay, the idea being that the laxative mineral will increase ocean alkalinity, and remove dreaded carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It is yet another example of geoengineering, being considered by a private corporation, with the absurd twist that the chemical being used, Milk of Magnesia, is a well-know laxative. The question, as always, is what kick-on effects will this have on the marine environment? Will it give the oceans a big case of “the runs”? As I read the story, the scientific background work has not yet been done. And, even if it does work, the acidity of the ocean is likely to soon increase anyway given industrial outputs, so it is really just … peeing in the ocean! Never mind whether climate change is a reality of not.
