Will melting glaciers slow climate change? A prevailing theory is on shaky ground

For scientists who study the Southern Ocean, the theory of iron fertilization has long been a silver lining in dire predictions of climate change. As temperatures rise and Antarctica’s glaciers melt, iron trapped in the ice would feed microscopic algal blooms, drawing heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow. There’s just one problem: the theory doesn’t hold up.