The Oceans

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Unit 3
Gases from phytoplankton

The impact of carbon dioxide on our climate depends on how much of the gas is in our atmosphere.  About a third of the carbon dioxide we produce from fossil fuel buring is stored in the oceans, greatly reducing the impact of global warming.  In this unit we look at how the carbon dioxide enters seawater.  We also look at how climatically important gases such as dimethyl sulphide, which are formed in the oceans, leave seawater and enter the air.  We also look at the suggestion made by Jim Lovelock in the 1960's that the Earth is a self regulating system that acts to keep our planet a fit place for life and show one example of how this may happen.  He called this system GAIA after the Greek Goddess of the Earth.