From Chris Evans
Could you please explain how “cooling the surface waters” would “reduce the
amount of the gas (carbon dioxide) they would hold”
(This Week, 5 September, p 12).
As any comparison of opening cold and warm champagne bottles would
demonstrate, carbon dioxide, like all gases, is more soluble in cold water.
Gases are indeed more soluble in cold water. However, whether CO2
enters or leaves the sea depends on the relative concentrations of CO2
in the air and the water, and on the wind speed. Thus, although surface
waters may cool as a hurricane passes, large quantities of CO2 may enter
the atmosphere because of the high winds and waves—Ed.
Earby, Lancashire
