Chemistry – Research Investigation

Claim: The oceans alleviate climate change by dissolving carbon dioxide

Rationale:

The claim, “the oceans alleviate climate change by dissolving carbon dioxide” can be interpreted in
multiple ways that can be investigated. Major aspects of the claim were simplified into the key
terms: oceans, alleviate, climate change, dissolve, carbon dioxide.

According to gathered research, carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important heat-trapping (greenhouse)

gas, which is released through human activities such as burning fossil fuels, as well as natural
processes such as volcanic eruptions.

Every type of gas in the atmosphere is in equilibrium with the gases dissolved in ocean water. This is
attributed to Henry’s gas law. (Chemistry LibreTexts, 2019) Henry’s gas law states “At a constant
temperature, the amount of a given gas that dissolves in a given type and volume of liquid is directly
proportional to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that liquid.” The solubility of a gas
in a liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of the gas above the liquid.

The majority of the liquid found on Earth is in the oceans, so as the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere increases the oceans absorb carbon dioxide. (NASA, 2019)

Charles’s gas law was also considered. This law states that “volume is proportional to temperature”,
as the volume of gas in the atmosphere increases, the atmospheric temperatures increase. (Clark. J,
2013) However, Charles' Law assumes that the number of moles of gas in the system is also
constant. This law had to be removed as the number of gases in the atmosphere of the planet is
always varying and so the theory would be inaccurate.

Le Chatelier’s principle states that changes in temperature, pressure, volume or concentration in a

system will result in opposing reactions and changes to reach an equilibrium state.

Carbon dioxide dissolves in water due to it having one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. The
oxygens have a slight negative charge due to the electronegativity difference, hence it is surrounded
by polar water molecules forming a cage structure.

Studies have shown that as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, the temperature also
increases. A temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space
Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8° Celsius since
1880. (NASA, 2019)

This is called the greenhouse effect, it is the process in which greenhouse gases, such as carbon
dioxide, trap the sun’s warmth in the planet’s lower atmosphere, thus causing global temperature
averages to increase.

Considering the gathered research and data, the research question to be investigated is as follows:

Research Question:

Does Henry’s gas law link the amount of carbon dioxide dissolving in the oceans to climate change?

This research question was chosen to investigate the possibility of Henry’s gas law and Le Chatelier’s
principle justifying the link between the amount of carbon dioxide dissolving in the oceans and how
this affects climate change and the greenhouse effect.

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Evidence and Analysis:

Figure 1: Increasing Carbon Dioxide (2005 - current year)

Figure 2: Global Land and Ocean Temperatures

According to figure 1, with the seasonal cycle removed, the atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentration measured at Mauna Load Observatory, Hawaii, shows a steady increase since 1957. In
1957 global atmospheric carbon dioxide was already 315 ppm. At 2013, the daily average carbon
dioxide measured at Mauna Loa surpassed 400 ppm for the first time on record. Less than two years
later, in 2015, the global amount went over 400 ppm for the first time.

At the same time, figure 2 depicts global average temperatures are rising. It can be assumed, based
on figure 1 and 2, that global average temperatures correspond to the increasing concentrations of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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Measurements taken show that the global temperature averages will continue increasing based on
current carbon dioxide concentrations. Due to the ocean soaking up more carbon dioxide being
released into the atmosphere, explained by Henry’s gas law as the amount of gas in the atmosphere
is proportional to the amount of gas dissolved in the water, global heating will most likely gradually
increase. This means that the Earth’s temperatures will increase by at least another 0.6° Celsius due
to the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere and the carbon dioxide being produced
anthropogenically.

Figure 3: Solubility of Carbon Dioxide in Water (Chemistry LibreTexts, 2019)

Figure 3 shows that as the temperature increases, the solubility of carbon dioxide decreases as
shown by the downward trend in the graph. Henry’s gas law states that “At a constant temperature,
the amount of a given gas that dissolves in a given type and volume of liquid is directly proportional
to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that liquid.” At a given temperature, a gas will
dissolve into a liquid to a degree that is determined by the balance between the undissolved gas and
the dissolved gas in the liquid. However, considering the forces that take place in the dissolution of
gases, the forces of attraction between the molecules of most gases are negligible. When the
interactions with water molecules form, heat is released in an exothermic process. As the
temperature increases, the kinetic energy is increased in the water molecules forcing the bonds to
break. (Khan academy, 2019). So, it has the effect of reversing the exothermic dissolution process
and reforming the gas.

As the average temperatures of the planet are slowly increasing, consequently, this lessens the
oceans’ ability to dissolve carbon dioxide causing more to be trapped in the atmosphere. The
increasing temperatures will cause the dissolved carbon dioxide to be released, thus making the
oceans’ a source of carbon dioxide, rather than a sink that absorbs carbon dioxide. This shows that
the ocean can have a carrying capacity for dissolved carbon dioxide.

This reaction is explained by Le Chatelier’s principle since the process of dissolving carbon dioxide in
water is exothermic, it creates additional heat, thus adding more stress into the oceans. Le
Chatelier’s principle states that “changes in temperature, pressure, volume or concentration in a
system will result in opposing reactions and changes to reach an equilibrium state.”

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To neutralize the stress of increasingly absorbing more carbon dioxide, the system, in this case, the
ocean, will try to remove the stress. Consequently, this causes the carbon dioxide that is being
dissolved into the ocean to be rejected back into the atmosphere, resulting in the global average
temperatures to increase.

Evaluation: (300-500 words)

The research gathered three graphs that linked the rising global average temperatures to the
increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the ocean. Henry’s gas law and Le Chatelier’s principle was
used to explaining the oceans’ dissolving and releasing carbon dioxide.

Figure 1 shows atmospheric CO2 levels measured at Mauna Loa Observatory, run by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United State Government. This
research is broadly consistent with similar constructions prepared by the Climatic Research Unit and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So, the data can be considered widely
reliable as the observations were measured and gathered in 2019. The data was collected from one
specific place and turned into an average, an improvement could be to measure the carbon dioxide
levels in different parts of the planet and compare the levels to determine if the rising carbon
dioxide is a natural trend.

Figure 2 shows the land and ocean average temperatures globally; this data was also collected by
NASA and consistent with the Climatic Research Unit and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. This data was obtained in 2019 so it can be considered a credible source. However, a
limitation to this data is that it an average for the planet, instead of a single place. Therefore, the
source may not be as accurate. An improvement could be to measure the data in one place and
compare it with other global sites.

Figure 3 is a source that was obtained from the United States National Centre for Atmospheric
Research (UCAR). This science research centre is created to complement and amplify correct
information to the general public about geoscience. This centre uses the data collected and obtained
by highly prestigious centres such as the National Science Foundation’s National Centre for
Atmospheric Research (NCAR). However, this data was gained in 2014 and is not as current.
Therefore, this data can be considered to be reasonably valid as its data is supported by other pieces
of evidence and sources from websites such as Khan Academy.

Improvements can be made by using more data from organisations such as NASA to reiterate the
already found evidence, such as graphs that use Henry’s law to justify the rising temperatures. If
using the considered recommendations, the investigation could be made more precise and
accurate. 

Conclusion:

The evidence has demonstrated the link between the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere along with the rising temperatures of the Earth by using henry’s gas law specifically.
Henry’s gas law states that the amount of gas in the atmosphere is directly proportional to the
amount of gas dissolved in the ocean. Therefore, due to the amount of carbon dioxide being
dissolved in the ocean to match the volume of gas in the atmosphere, the severity of climate change
is decreased.

However, due to there being more carbon dioxide produced than the ocean dissolves it, the global
temperatures will still gradually increase based on the evidence shown. When the atmospheric
temperature increases, the oceanic temperatures also increase due to the greenhouse effect. This

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causes the carbon dioxide that was dissolved in the oceans to be outgassed from the oceans, thus
increasing the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide leading to further increase in
temperature in the atmosphere and ocean. This increase in temperature will most likely continue to
rise if more anthropogenic carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

 
References Lists
Jackson, R. (2019). The Effects of Climate Change. [online] Climate Change: Vital Signs of the
Planet. Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ [Accessed 12 Aug. 2019].
Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. (2019). Carbon Dioxide Concentration | NASA Global
Climate Change. [online] Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/ [Accessed
12 Aug. 2019].
Chemistry LibreTexts. (2019). 16.6: Henry's Law. [online] Available at:
https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Chemistry/Book
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2019].

UCAR, 2012. What do soda and the oceans have in common? [Online] Available:
https://scied.ucar.edu/activity/11283/print-all [Accessed 12 August 2019]

Khanacademy, 2019. Specific heat, heat of vaporization, and density of water [Online] Available:
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/water-acids-and-bases/water-as-a-solid-liquid-and-
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NASA, 2018. Long-term warming trend continued in 2017: NASA, NOAA|NASA GLOBAL CLIMATE
CHANGE [Online] Available: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2671/long-term-warming-trend-
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NASA, 2019. Climate Change: How Do We Know?| NASA GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE [Online]
Available: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ [Accessed 7 August 2019]

Earthhour, 2019. What is Climate Change? [Online] Available:

https://www.earthhour.org.au/discover/what-is-climate-change [Accessed 7 August 2019]

Vitz et al, 2019. Le Chatelier's Principle in the Ocean Surface|Libretexts [Online] Available:
https://chem.libretexts.org/Ancillary_Materials/Exemplars_and_Case_Studies/Exemplars/Environm
ental_and_Green_chemistry/Le_Chatelier's_Principle_in_the_Ocean_Surface [Accessed 14 August
2019]

Climate Central, 2018. Rising Global Temperatures and CO2 [Online] Available:
https://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/co2-and-rising-global-temperatures [Accessed 13
August 2019]

Clark. J, 2013. Other gas laws - Boyle's Law and Charles' Law|Chemguide [Online] Available:
https://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/kt/otherlaws.html [Accessed 8 August 2019]

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