[LINK] 'Smart' cars as fuel-efficient as hybrids

[Antony Barry]

On 16/05/2007, at 1:26 PM, Chris Maltby wrote:

> The oceans dissolve atmospheric CO2 - and there's a lot more ocean  
> than
> atmosphere, but it's not a permanent CO2 store, and increased  
> dissolved
> CO2 will bring its own problems.  As I understand, it seems that the
> fastest genuine carbon sink is the formation of limestone rock in the
> oceans from the accumulation of calcium carbonate in the shells of
> marine organisms, including corals. They'll take a lot longer than 100
> years to deal with the CO2 we're dumping into the atmosphere now.

The big "but" in that is that when more CO2 is dissolved you get  
carbonic acid and the ocean's Ph goes up. <http://en.wikipedia.org/ 
wiki/Ocean_acidification>.

This inhibits calcifying species from creating shell and slows the  
whole process. The geological carbon cycle where the oceans take  
carbon out of the atmosphere and return it to the rocks is inhibited.  
This is another possible positive feedback mechanism to increase  
global warming.

Tony

phone : 02 6241 7659 | mailto:me at Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
mobile: 04 1242 0397 | mailto:tony.barry at alianet.alia.org.au
http://tony-barry.emu.id.au