LOHAFEX was an ocean iron fertilization experiment that the Helmholtz Foundation in Germany and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in India jointly organized. The experiment’s goal was to determine whether the iron would result in an algae bloom and trap atmospheric carbon dioxide.

As part of research on mitigating global warming, the LOHAFEX project in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica, attempted to increase CO sequestration by ocean iron fertilization. The full form for LOHAFEX is – Loha means iron in Hindi, and Fex is an acronym for fertilization.

In this article, we will cover the entire LOHAFEX in general, A brief background on LOHAFEX, Major talking points about LOHAFEX, Controversy about LOHAFEX, a conclusion, and some of the key highlights. A LOHAFEX is one of the important topics of the UPSC IAS exam.

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Background on LOHAFEX

• Indian researchers have accidentally identified three bacterial groupings that are unrelated to other microorganisms phylogenetically.
• The discovery took place during the LOHAFEX experiment in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica, which was designed to increase CO sequestration through ocean iron fertilization as part of studies on global warming mitigation.
• The marine phytoplankton in the oceans fixes up to 40% of the carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere.
• As a result, variables that prevent marine phytoplankton from fixing CO will have an effect on the global climate as CO levels rise.
• The levels of CO sequestered could be reduced by biotic (grazing of phytoplankton by microzooplankton) and abiotic (lack of vitamin iron) causes.
• As a result, it was stated, “it is assumed that if iron shortage is remedied by exogenous addition of iron, it would enable a phytoplankton bloom and hence result in CO sequestration.
• The experiment examined the impact of iron addition on bacterial community structure in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica, in order to gain a better understanding of the connection between bacteria and phytoplankton in the context of iron fertilization.
• The first of the three newly found LOHAFEX clusters belonged to the class of Bacteroidetes, whereas the second and third belonged to the Firmicutes.
• The three clusters’ varied reactions to the presence of iron in the ocean were one of their most distinctive and distinctive characteristics.
• While the bacterial communities in clusters 2 and 3 both responded to the addition of iron, cluster 1 did not change in response to either an increase or decrease in the iron levels. As a result, species in clusters 2 and 3 might represent signs of iron in the water.

What was the LOHAFEX Experiment?

Why was it scrapped?

• As a result of complaints from numerous NGOs, the German government scrapped the LOHAFEX Experiment initiative.
• Man-made algae bloom raised concerns among environmentalists about potential harm to the marine ecosystem. 
• They suggested that short-term observation would not allow for the detection of the long-term impacts of ocean fertilization.

Iron Fertilization

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Major talking points on LOHAFEX

• The LOHAFEX experiment in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica, was designed to increase CO sequestration by ocean iron fertilization as part of studies on global warming prevention. Loha is Hindi for iron, and Fex is an acronym for fertilisation.
• Together, the Helmholtz Foundation in Germany and the Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR) in India planned LOHAFEX.
• The first of the three newly found LOHAFEX clusters belonged to a class of Bacteroidetes, whereas the second and third belonged to Firmicutes.

Controversy about LOHAFEX

• With these significant geoengineering trials, several skeptics feared that large-scale ecological alteration would begin.
• The experiment was permitted to proceed when the German government submitted a proposal for favorable appraisals from both the scientific and legal communities.

Conclusion

In the Lohafex experiment, an Indo-German team of researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the National Institute of Oceanography released 20 tonnes of iron sulfate into the Southern Ocean earlier this year to study how much carbon was taken up by plankton. A brief spike in phytoplankton growth was induced by fertilization, however, this effect was short-lived because amphipod predation increased.

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UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Q1. Justify the significance of the Lohafex in the modern world. (250 words)

Q2. Diagnose why Lohafex was scrapped and its effects. (250 words)

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