Abstract
Correlations between geomagnetic‐field and climate parameters have been suggested repeatedly, but possible links are controversially discussed. Here we test if weak (Earth‐strength) magnetic fields can affect climatically relevant properties of seawater. We found the solubility of air in seawater to be by 15% lower under reduced magnetic‐field (20 μT) compared to normal field conditions (50 μT). The magnetic‐field effect on CO2 solubility is twice as large, from which we surmise that geomagnetic field variations modulate the carbon exchange between atmosphere and ocean. A 1% reduction in magnetic dipole moment may release up to ten times more CO2 from the surface ocean than is emitted by subaerial volcanism. This figure is dwarfed in front of anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
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