Dear dsw, If you read the paper by J. R. Toggweiler & Joellen Russell, Ocean circulation in a warming climate, in Nature Jan 2008, and think about my paper geoengineering paper, you will realize that this might be easily accomplished. The extra mixing will also bring up nutrients.
I wish I knew how to attach documents for this group. Help would be appreciated. Sincerely, Oliver Wingenter On Jan 13, 5:26 pm, dsw_s <[email protected]> wrote: > I suspect that natural mixing processes exceed anything we can do > mechanically, by a couple orders of magnitude. But that's just a > guess. I suspect the way we can increase downward mixing of CO2 > dissolved from air is by influencing large-scale weather patterns. > > On Jan 13, 10:42 am, "John Nissen" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > Could there be a case for geoengineering to increase sea "ventilation" and > > thereby increase CO2 absorption by the sea? (I'm thinking of those > > millions of wave-powered tubes suggested by Chris Rapley and James Lovelock > > to bring deep cool water to the surface.) > > >http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/12/sea-co2-climate-jap... > > > --- > > > Sea absorbing less CO2, scientists discover > > a.. David Adam, environment correspondent > > b.. The Guardian, Monday 12 January 2009 > > c.. Article history > > Scientists have issued a new warning about climate change after discovering > > a sudden and dramatic collapse in the amount of carbon emissions absorbed > > by the Sea of Japan. > > > The shift has alarmed experts, who blame global warming. > > > The world's oceans soak up about 11bn tonnes of human carbon dioxide > > pollution each year, about a quarter of all produced, and even a slight > > weakening of this natural process would leave significantly more CO2 in the > > atmosphere. That would require countries to adopt much stricter emissions > > targets to prevent dangerous rises in temperature. > > > Kitack Lee, an associate professor at Pohang University of Science and > > Technology, who led the research, says the discovery is the "very first > > observation that directly relates ocean CO2 uptake change to ocean warming". > > > He says the warmer conditions disrupt a process known as "ventilation" - > > the way seawater flows and mixes and drags absorbed CO2 from surface waters > > to the depths. He warns that the effect is probably not confined to the Sea > > of Japan. It could also affect CO2 uptake in the Atlantic and Southern > > oceans. > > > "Our result in the East Sea unequivocally demonstrated that oceanic uptake > > of CO2 has been directly affected by warming-induced weakening of vertical > > ventilation," he says. Korea argues that the Sea of Japan should be renamed > > the East Sea, because it says the former is a legacy of Japan's military > > expansion in the region. > > > Lee adds: "In other words, the increase in atmospheric temperature due to > > global warming can profoundly influence the ocean ventilation, thereby > > decreasing the uptake rate of CO2." > > > Working with Pavel Tishchenko of the Russian Pacific Oceanological > > Institute in Vladivostok, Lee and his colleague Geun-Ha Park used a cruise > > on the Professor Gagarinskiy, a Russian research vessel, last May to take > > seawater samples from 24 sites across the Sea of Japan. > > > They compared the dissolved CO2 in the seawater with similar samples > > collected in 1992 and 1999. The results showed the amount of CO2 absorbed > > during 1999 to 2007 was half the level recorded from 1992 to 1999. > > > Crucially, the study revealed that ocean mixing, a process required to > > deposit carbon in deep water, where it is more likely to stay, appears to > > have significantly weakened. > > > Announcing their results in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the > > scientists say: "The striking feature is that nearly all anthropogenic CO2 > > taken up in the recent period was confined to waters less than 300 metres > > in depth. The rapid and substantial reduction ... is surprising and is > > attributed to considerable weakening of overturning circulation." > > > Corinne Le Quéré, an expert in ocean carbon storage at the University of > > East Anglia, said: "We don't think the ocean is just going to completely > > stop taking our carbon dioxide emissions, but if the effect weakens then it > > has real consequences for the atmosphere." > > > --- > > > Cheers, > > > John --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
