Global warming and the sciencific method

[reasonmclucus]

If find it interesting that water is heavier than CO₂ molecules.

Individual water molecules are lighter than air or CO2 molecules. H2O contains only one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms - hydrogen is the lightest element. Most molecules in the air are either N2 or O2. Nitrogen and oxygen atoms do not exist separately, but bond either with another like atom or with atoms of other elements.

Water molecules become heavier than air when they group together with other water molecules and some other material such as bits of dust.

Temperature also affects where molecules are in the atmosphere. Warmer molecules have more energy and can use that energy to counter gravitational attraction. If CO2 molecules were becoming warmer because of absorption of radiation they should be moving farther from the Earth's surface.

 

[reasonmclucus]

I think not. At least you cannot compare matters in different states. I assume that the reason for a higher concentration of CO2 in the lower levels is that pressurized water can hold more CO2 (think of the coke bottle) hence it's concentration to saturation ratio is lower than at higher levels. Perhaps that molecules tend to travel from higher to lower saturation ratios.

I believe the CO2 in carbonated beveridges is in the form of bubbles (groups of molecules) rather than individual molecules. Pressure forces them into the liquid. As area occupied by the bubbles is less dense than the liquid which allows them to rise much like a hot air balloon rises in the air. Although the air in the balloon has the same mass as the rest of the air the air molecules are farther apart making the entire balloon lighter than a similar volumn of air. Old beveridges become flat even if unopened because the bubbles break down over time with the individual molecules going their separate ways.

 

[reasonmclucus]

Not pickin' on you, Andre --- yours is the last post on a misunderstood topic --- good a place as any to insert the corrections: diffusion is driven by chemical potential, not saturation ratio, molecular mass, or other intuitive factors; chemical potential is a function of concentration, temperature, and pressure; the temperature and pressure differences between the surface and deep ocean affect the chemical potential of CO₂ by 1-2% at most; carbon transport from the surface to the deeps is primarily biological; the surface waste accumulating in the deeps at billions of tons per year is converted to CO₂ by metabolic processes; convective transport of this carbon returns it to the surface far more rapidly than diffusion processes. That ain't the whole of the ocean carbon cycle, but it's the part relevant to the discussion.

The primary concern with CO2 and water is that CO2 is going from the atmosphere to the water and increasing the acidity of the oceans. The carbon molecules that come out of water tend to be methane CH4. Some experts believe that the release of large quantities of CH4 at one time may explain some of the mysterious disappearances of ships and planes in the Bermuda Triangle and other areas. CH4 can cause ships to sink by substantially reducing the surface tension of the water under the ship. Aircraft flying through CH4 clouds can ignite it.



The primary biological process that produces CO2 is the breakdown of complex carbon molecules by animal type organisms through oxidation in individual cells. there is some speculation that heat vents in the deep ocean may provide sufficient energy to the allow conversion of CO2 into more complex molecules through some method other than photosynthesis.