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8/1/2016 More Exxon Documents Show How Much It Knew About Climate 35 Years Ago | InsideClimate News
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rnou
BETEnENCE
HV Shaw
N. R. Werthamer SUBJECT
W
H. N. Weinberg
S
GREENHOUSE PROGRAM
At the CRIAC Meeting on June 4 I presented the material
on the Greenhouse Program as covered in the attached pages
15 and 16. George Piercy questioned me closely on the statement
that there is a net C02 flux out of the ocean at the upwelling
zones. He argued that the concentration of CO- in the ocean in
parts per million could well be higher than that in the atmosphere
in parts per million and that there would be no net flux because
those concentrations might be the ones required for equilibrium.
On reflection, I think George may be right. Please let me have
your comments.
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On June 9, 1980, Harold N. Weinberg, a top
manager in Exxon Research and Engineering, the
hub of the company's carbon dioxide research, sent
a note to Richard Werthamer and Henry Shaw
with the subject, "Greenhouse Program," the
company's CO2 research initiative. Shaw was the
unit's lead climate researcher at the time,
Werthamer his boss.
In the note, Weinberg wrote that he gave a
presentation at a June 4 meeting about the program
and said, "George Piercy questioned me closely on
the statement that there is a net CO2 flux out of the
ocean at the upwelling zones."
jj Exxon's Own
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by neela banerjee, lisa
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Exxon Believed Deep
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neela banerjee, lisa
song, david hasemyer
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At the time, Exxon had deployed a state-of-the-art
supertanker outfitted with equipment for measuring
marine CO2 concentrations to understand the role
the oceans play in the world's carbon cycle.
Scientists knew that the oceans had absorbed some
of the carbon dioxide released from the increased
global consumption of fossil fuels. But Exxon's
researchers wanted to understand how exactly CO2
behaved in the oceans—and whether after trapping
the gas, the seas would eventually release it into the
atmosphere.
Piercy was a senior vice president at Exxon in
1980, and a member of the board of directors.
According to the note, he challenged Weinberg's
assertion that global circulation patterns move CO2
out of the deep oceans to the surface where it
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01122015/documents-exxons-early-co2-position-senior-execulives-engage-and-warming-forecast
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