Author(s): K. Hasegawa; A. Wada
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Pacific Ocean; Ocean circulation; Data assimilation system; Ocean sequestration; Carbon dioxide
Abstract: The global warming, due to increasing emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by human activities, is one of the most serious environmental problems of our planet. For preventing further increase in the atmospheric CO2, a greater attention has recently been given to the technique of ocean sequestration of CO2, in which CO2 is directly introduced into the middle or deeper layers of the ocean and dissolved in seawater. In order to examine the feasibility of this technique from the viewpoint of seawater circulation, we developed a 3-dimensional flow model of the Pacific Ocean using the data assimilation system, and confirmed a good reproducibility of surface and deeper layer flow fields. Behaviors of CO2 in the Pacific Ocean were examined by means of a numerical simulation, utilizing the calculated results of the flow fields. CO2 was supposed to be released off Hawaii of the Pacific Ocean. Injected CO2 was confined into seawater that was the primary criteria. Biological effects of CO2 on benthos living on the sea bottom were also taken into consideration. It was suggested that CO2 must be introduced into the layers deeper than 1000 m of the Ocean.
Year: 2003