The Oceans

Worksheet 2

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1. How do the oceans take up CO₂?

2. Experiment

This experiment illustrates how global warming is likely to affect the ability of the ocean to store CO₂.

Pour soda water (or carbonated mineral water) into two test tubes. Put one test tube into a beaker of hot tap water and the other into a beaker of cold water. Watch what happens in each of the tubes.

Use your observations to explain what is likely to happen to the dissolved CO₂ in seawater as the oceans warm up.

Idea and illustration: Pål Kirkeby Hansen, Oslo University College, Norway

3. Storing CO₂ in the seabed

Natural gas is extracted from the seabed at the Sleipner field in the North Sea. CO₂is separated from the rest of the gas and pumped back into a layer of sandstone nearby. Illustration : Alligator Film/BUG (click to enlarge, 135 kB)

In order to prevent carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning accumulating in the air, people have tried to store the excess CO₂ in large, porous rock structures under the sea.

Use the Internet to find out whether these attempts have been successful, try seach terms such as "CO2 storage" AND "sea floor”.

Do you think this is a good way to reduce the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect?

Authors: Ellen K. Henriksen and Camilla Schreiner - University of Oslo - Norway. Scientific reviewer: Lucinda Spokes - Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich - U.K. Last update: 2004-03-27.

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The Oceans

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