<p>First off, like many of the other so-called &quot;laws&quot; from the early days of modern chemistry / modern thermodynamics, Henry's Law is an approximate &quot;law&quot;.</p>
<p>More importantly, the goal right now, and for at least the next couple of decades, is to merely reduce the rate at which carbon dioxide is being dumped into the atmosphere. The potential problems that might be associated with a lowering of carbon dioxide levels are problems for a future generation to solve.</p>
<p>Finally, it is true that the carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans will start to come out of solution if carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere actually do fall, and this will partially (but not completely) offset the reduction in human-generated carbon dioxide. That's a good thing rather than a bad thing. The growing dissolved carbon dioxide levels in the oceans is problematic in and of itself.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-27T15:41:43.957Z
2023-01-27T15:41:43.957Z
David Hammen
<p>If gigatons of carbon dioxide were taken out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis into long-term soil carbon or tree carbon, or captured from the atmosphere and stored using some kind of technology, would a nearly equivalent amount of carbon dioxide be released into the atmosphere from the surface layers of oceans according to Henry's Law?</p>
<p>Bonus question: if the above is correct, why is this almost never part of the discussion of carbon sequestration, which is often imagined as simple subtraction from atmospheric carbon dioxide?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-27T22:33:01.653Z
With CO2 the Revelle Factor limits the rate of exchange between ocean and atmosphere. Prior to Revelle scientists expected that atmospheric CO2 would be taken out too fast for it to accumulate much. I expect oceans would release CO2 to the atmosphere, but (too) slowly to make CO2 capture ineffective. It is the enormous scale and costs that makes CCS ineffective. Oceans are the biggest, cheapest "capture" mechanism - but too slow... due to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelle_factor
Ken Fabian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-03T15:50:33.143Z
Thanks for the comment. How does the Revelle Factor affect the release of carbon dioxide from the ocean to the atmosphere?
Peter Donovan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-03T23:16:00.587Z
My understanding (I'm not an expert in ocean chemistry) is that it works in both directions - affecting the rate of exchange. The current situation where atmospheric CO2 is rising makes reduced absorption by the oceans the standout implication of a constraint on the exchange between ocean and atmosphere. The wikipedia article would be improved by specific mention of the reverse case. More on Revelle Factor - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2008GB003407
Ken Fabian
<oceanography><carbon-cycle><carbon-capture>
Carbon "sequestration" or "drawdown" and Henry's Law
Peter Donovan
# Carbon "sequestration" or "drawdown" and Henry's Law

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-01-27)

If gigatons of carbon dioxide were taken out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis into long-term soil carbon or tree carbon, or captured from the atmosphere and stored using some kind of technology, would a nearly equivalent amount of carbon dioxide be released into the atmosphere from the surface layers of oceans according to Henry's Law?

Bonus question: if the above is correct, why is this almost never part of the discussion of carbon sequestration, which is often imagined as simple subtraction from atmospheric carbon dioxide?

**Tags:** oceanography, carbon-cycle, carbon-capture

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: With CO2 the Revelle Factor limits the rate of exchange between ocean and atmosphere. Prior to Revelle scientists expected that atmospheric CO2 would be taken out too fast for it to accumulate much. I expect oceans would release CO2 to the atmosphere, but (too) slowly to make CO2 capture ineffective. It is the enormous scale and costs that makes CCS ineffective. Oceans are the biggest, cheapest "capture" mechanism - but too slow... due to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelle_factor  
> **username_0**: Thanks for the comment. How does the Revelle Factor affect the release of carbon dioxide from the ocean to the atmosphere?  
> **username_1**: My understanding (I'm not an expert in ocean chemistry) is that it works in both directions - affecting the rate of exchange. The current situation where atmospheric CO2 is rising makes reduced absorption by the oceans the standout implication of a constraint on the exchange between ocean and atmosphere. The wikipedia article would be improved by specific mention of the reverse case. More on Revelle Factor - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2008GB003407  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-01-27. Score: 2

First off, like many of the other so-called "laws" from the early days of modern chemistry / modern thermodynamics, Henry's Law is an approximate "law".

More importantly, the goal right now, and for at least the next couple of decades, is to merely reduce the rate at which carbon dioxide is being dumped into the atmosphere. The potential problems that might be associated with a lowering of carbon dioxide levels are problems for a future generation to solve.

Finally, it is true that the carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans will start to come out of solution if carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere actually do fall, and this will partially (but not completely) offset the reduction in human-generated carbon dioxide. That's a good thing rather than a bad thing. The growing dissolved carbon dioxide levels in the oceans is problematic in and of itself.


---

