Sunday, November 29, 2009
Ocean continues to process carbon dioxide more slowly
Yale geophysicist Jeffery Park had observation stations in Hawaii, Alaska and Antarctica. Over a period of time data was collected at each station based on environmental conditions, water temperature and Co2 levels. Data from the observations showed that there was a change in the Co2 levels during periods of time differing in water temperature. The observation showed colder water to hold more Co2 than warmer water would. Observations from twenty years ago showed a 5 month period between temperature changes and resulting Co2 level change. That was Twenty years ago, today we are seeing a 15 month time lapse between atmospheric Co2 change. The ocean is currently responsible for absorbing about forty percent of the carbon dioxide that humans emit. But since the time to process the carbon dioxide has grown longer it is going to make it more difficult for the ocean to handle. As a result it is projected that it will affect future climate change. With warmer weather comes warmer water, the warmer the water the less Co2 it is able to hold which is causing the warmer weather, it basically seems like a vicious cycle that cant be corrected all at once it is going to take a long time if not forever.
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