Southern Ocean absorbing more carbon dioxide than thought

Southern Ocean absorbing more carbon dioxide than thought photo Southern Ocean absorbing more carbon dioxide than thought

They reported that about 1.2bn tons of carbon dioxide was absorbed by oceans in 2011 which was approximately double the lowest point value in the 1990s.



David Munro, a scientist at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado Boulder believes that the Southern Ocean is uniquely placed to help tackle the amount of Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere however admits that scientists are still trying to understand the exact mechanics of how.

The bring original author and environment physicist Prof Nicolas Gruber instructed the Guardian: “One has got to discover that regardless of this incredible maximise in the Southern Ocean co2 water basin, emission have increased more”.

Defying earlier fears, researchers say the Antarctic Ocean has been absorbing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide over the past decade, making it critical to mitigating the worst effects of climate change. This was unexpected since the assumption was that the higher the concentration of Carbon dioxide in the air, the greater the amount of Carbon dioxide the ocean would absorb.

She famous that the earlier strategies of a saturation level had been stunning on the time and that these new findings present the Antarctic Ocean “has the truth is regained its anticipated power”. By 2010, its carbon uptake was once again comparable to the level expected on the basis of atmospheric CO2 increase alone.

He said it was unclear how long the higher rate of absorption by the Southern Ocean, the strongest ocean region for soaking up carbon, would last. 40% of this absorption occurs in the Southern Ocean, which surrounds the Antarctic.

It is thought that changes in weather – particularly wind patterns and temperature in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans – were responsible.

Since these deeper waters contain higher concentrations of dissolved CO2, this upwelling led to an anomalous release of this greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, resulting in a stagnation or even a decrease in the ocean’s net carbon uptake.

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