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Carbonate The Ocean

Posted by timothy on from the pop-pop-fizz-fizz dept.

Bonker writes: "This article at Salon indicates that scientists in Norway are setting up an experiment to inject massive amounts of C02 into the deep ocean near the Artic circle. They hope that they can prove that C02 can be stored in the ocean rather than in the atmosphere where it contributes to global warming, but the question remains -- can fishies swim in club soda?"

5 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. A large test is needed... by StaticLimit · · Score: 4

    You know, I'm not entirely sure if nuclear fallout could cause a "nuclear winter". Perhaps a "large test" is needed to validate this.

    And I've HEARD that complete deforestation of the Amazon could impact the oxygen supply significantly. Perhaps a "large test" would help prove this false as well?

    My point is, when we don't know how this will "affect sea life", a "large test" is probably the LAST thing we should be trying.

    - StaticLimit

  2. Is Norway really that far behind?? by CrudPuppy · · Score: 4

    It is a very well-known fact that the ocean plays a major part in the natural CO2 cycle of the earth. Where water is colder, CO2 is readily absorbed (CO2 absorbs into cold water, an comes out of hot water). This can either take place in regions where the water is chronically colder (e.g. the arctic) or where there is a lot of vertical turbulence going on, causing deeper, colder water to continually come in contact with the atmosphere.

    The only thing that is new here is the fact that they want to stimulate further absorption by injecting it. The only problem with this is that they will have to pump it *very* deep to get to water that is cold enough to make this process as efficient as possible.

    Even carrying this out with stunning efficiency, it is doubtful they will *ever* be able to pump enough CO2 out of the atmosphere to make a tiny dent globally... and NO, this will also never be enough to disrupt the highly buffered pH of the ocean.

    --
    A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.
  3. Nanotech already solves this problem by vivarin · · Score: 3
    How about this...

    We use a bunch of solar-powered, self-reproducing machines to trap the excess carbon dioxide. Perhaps the carbon can even be formed into useful products, and the oxygen released back into the atmosphere for us to breathe.

    What? We've already got that?

    What, exactly, IS a "tree?".

  4. You've got the physics and chemistry wrong by Spamalamadingdong · · Score: 3
    The only thing that is new here is the fact that they want to stimulate further absorption by injecting it. The only problem with this is that they will have to pump it *very* deep to get to water that is cold enough to make this process as efficient as possible.
    It's not the cold, it's the pressure. At high pressure, water will hold many times more CO2 than it does at sea-level atmospheric (think about bottled soda for a second). With the combination of cold water and high pressure, the mixture of CO2 and H2O is more dense than the water and it will tend to sink and stay sunk. (It would be much easier to get rid of the stuff for the long term if CO2 formed a clathrate (a solid crystal) with water as methane does, but we can't always be lucky.)

    Soda water on the bottom of bodies of water can present a danger, as the unfortunate people living near Lake Nyos in Cameroon can attest. However, the water in the deepest parts of the oceans probably cannot be churned easily enough to present a short-term threat.

    Even carrying this out with stunning efficiency, it is doubtful they will *ever* be able to pump enough CO2 out of the atmosphere to make a tiny dent globally... and NO, this will also never be enough to disrupt the highly buffered pH of the ocean.
    Want to place a small bet on that? I seem to recall recent articles about stresses on coral reefs which included the increase in global CO2 concentrations driving the buffer system away from CO3-- ions to HCO3- ions. As the coral animals require carbonate to build their skeletons, this deprives them of an essential nutrient (and the increased CO2 concentration tends to dissolve what they've already built, by converting CO3-- + CO2 + H2O -> 2HCO3-).
    --
    --
    Scientists restrict study to entire physical universe; creationist
  5. Quick, hide the evidence by cpl+almost · · Score: 3

    It really is terrifying that as a society we are unalbe to avoid repeated disasterous mistakes.

    Why I remmber when water pollution was first recognized as a problem, how to solve it? "Dilution is the Solution"

    Granted this took place a decade before I was born but the point is valid; we continually try and hide/ bury/ burn/ put somewhere else our collective waste. It is unbelieveable that we still fail to realize the folly of this mindset.

    -Simplify-