Ocean Temperature and CO2 /h3>

Name: Fano
Status: educator
Grade: 9-12
Location: Italy

Question: If the water of the ocean becomes warmer, the absorption 
of CO2 becomes more difficult, and emission easier. Where can I find 
some quantitative data (e.g. a mathematical formula or a reference) 
on this phenomenon? It seems to me very crucial in understanding 
whether atmospheric CO2 produces global warming, or vice versa 
increase of temperature gives rise to CO2.
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The solubility of CO2 (and other gases) is obviously an important 
issue, as you recognize.  It has also been highly researched and 
there is a massive amount of literature at all levels of 
sophistication. This reflects the fact that the problem is 
very complicated -- temperature, salinity, depth, 
presence/absence of carbonate rock, tides and currents, 
the list is long... A "Google" search on the term 
"solubility CO2 sea water" quickly hit this half dozen 
sites and there are dozens more that I could have added to 
the list. Understanding the carbon cycle in sea water is very 
important, but also very intricate. These "hits" should give 
you a good "jumping off" point.

http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/research/sea_water_co2.html

http://ijolite.geology.uiuc.edu/02SprgClass/geo117/lectures/Lect18.html

http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/oceans/co2rprt.html

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Re-St/Sea-Water-Gases-in.html

http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=kt167nb66r&chunk.id=d3_6_ch06&toc.id=ch06&brand=eschol 

Vince Calder
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Fano,
 It is not quite as straightforward as that. While it is true that the s
 olubility of CO2 in water decreases with increasing temperature, the 
 solubility of gases into liquid also depends on the pressure of that 
 gas. This means that while less CO2 gets dissolved in warmer oceans, 
 it is also true that with more CO2 in the atmosphere, more of it will 
 dissolve. We also have to remember that "solubility" means the maximum 
 mount of solute dissolved in a solvent under particular conditions. 
 Thus, it may be that more CO2 will dissolve in the oceans (as more 
 CO2 enters the atmosphere) if the oceans are not as yet saturated. 
 Moreover, remember that as CO2 dissolves in water, some of it reacts 
 with the water to form carbonic acid - thus, there may be more CO2 
 dissolved in other forms.
 
I think the key here is measurement. We need to continue gathering 
data.
 
Greg (Roberto Gregorious)
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Let me add this too:

Vince is exactly correct: this issue is extraordinarily complex. There is no
simple equation or even set of equations to describe what is going on. In
fact, there is much less scientific consensus on how much CO2 is dissolved
in oceans than this is for air or ground. Let me restate this to be clear:
we know a lot more about air and land CO2 than we do about the oceans. In
short, mankind just cannot predict very well how the oceans will affect
atmospheric CO2 or global climate -- at least not with the certainty or
simplicity that would be easy to convey in this forum.

Wish I had better information for you.
Burr Zimmerman
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