Study: Temperature Of A 2mm Thick Layer Of The Ocean's Surface Is Key To CO2 Uptake From The Atmosphere

[hatrack]

A sliver of cool surface water less than 2mm deep helps oceans absorb carbon dioxide, a British-led team of scientists has established after months of voyages across the Atlantic painstakingly measuring gas and temperature levels. The subtle difference in temperature between the “ocean skin” and the layer of water beneath it creates an interface that leads to more CO2 being taken in, the scientists observed.

They used highly sensitive equipment to measure the water temperature and to spot and record tiny differences in the amount of CO2 in the air swirling towards the ocean surface and away again. The 2mm sliver of water is slightly colder because of the “cool skin effect”, which is caused by heat leaving the water as it is in direct contact with the atmosphere.

EDIT

The results, published in the Nature Geoscience journal, have been passed on to the Global Carbon Budget assessment, a worldwide consortium of scientists set up to establish a common understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle.

Prof Jamie Shutler, an ocean and atmospheric scientist at the University of Exeter, said the “ocean skin” was very slightly cooler than the layer of water beneath it. The absorbing of CO2 is controlled by the concentration difference in gases across these layers. Shutler said the effects were first suggested in the early 1990s. “But the key missing piece – the field evidence – eluded us,” he said.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/25/ocean-skin-cool-surface-water-deep-helps-absorb-co2

[cachukis]

1. Wow. Someone came up with that question

and found a way to answer.
We need more questioners on this planet.