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Many physical processes over ocean surface generate sea salt aerosols. One common cause is the bursting of air bubbles, which are entrained by the wind stress during the whitecap formation. Another is tearing of drops from wave tops. [19] The total sea salt flux from the ocean to the atmosphere is about 3300 Tg (3.3 billion tonnes) per year. [20]
Ocean-atmospheric exchanges rates of CO 2 depend on the concentration of carbon dioxide already present in both the atmosphere and the ocean, temperature, salinity, and wind speed. [38] This exchange rate can be approximated by Henry's law and can be calculated as S = kP, where the solubility (S) of the carbon dioxide gas is proportional to the ...
Methane's GWP 20 of 85 means that a ton of CH 4 emitted into the atmosphere creates approximately 85 times the atmospheric warming as a ton of CO 2 over a period of 20 years. [23] On a 100-year timescale, methane's GWP 100 is in the range of 28–34. Methane emissions are important as reducing them can buy time to tackle carbon emissions. [24] [25]
In one study of the feces of nine adults, five of the samples contained archaea capable of producing methane. [13] Similar results are found in samples of gas obtained from within the rectum. Even among humans whose flatus does contain methane, the amount is in the range of 10% or less of the total amount of gas. [14]
The exchange between the ocean and atmosphere can take centuries, and the weathering of rocks can take millions of years. Carbon in the ocean precipitates to the ocean floor where it can form sedimentary rock and be subducted into the Earth's mantle. Mountain building processes result in the return of this geologic carbon to the Earth's surface.
Each year, the ocean and atmosphere exchange large amounts of carbon. A major controlling factor in oceanic-atmospheric carbon exchange is thermohaline circulation. In regions of ocean upwelling, carbon-rich water from the deep ocean comes to the surface and releases carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Frozen methane bubbles from thawing permafrost. Large deposits of frozen methane, when thawing, release gas into the environment. [3] In cases of sub-sea permafrost, the methane gas may be dissolved in the seawater before reaching the surface; however, in a number of sites around the world, these methane chimneys release the gas directly into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. [4]
There is evidence for increasing methane emissions since 2004 from a Siberian permafrost site into the atmosphere linked to warming. [8] Radiocarbon dating of trace methane in lake bubbles and soil organic carbon concluded that 0.2 to 2.5 Pg of permafrost carbon has been released as methane and carbon dioxide over the last 60 years. [15]