The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink

Landschuetzer, Peter, Gruber, Nicolas, Haumann, F. Alexander, Roedenbeck, Christian, Bakker, Dorothee C. E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9234-5337, van Heuven, Steven, Hoppema, Mario, Metzl, Nicolas, Sweeney, Colm, Takahashi, Taro, Tilbrook, Bronte and Wanninkhof, Rik (2015) The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink. Science, 349 (6253). pp. 1221-1224. ISSN 0036-8075

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Abstract

Several studies have suggested that the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean—the ocean’s strongest region for the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 —has weakened in recent decades. We demonstrated, on the basis of multidecadal analyses of surface ocean CO2 observations, that this weakening trend stopped around 2002, and by 2012, the Southern Ocean had regained its expected strength based on the growth of atmospheric CO2. All three Southern Ocean sectors have contributed to this reinvigoration of the carbon sink, yet differences in the processes between sectors exist, related to a tendency toward a zonally more asymmetric atmospheric circulation. The large decadal variations in the Southern Ocean carbon sink suggest a rather dynamic ocean carbon cycle that varies more in time than previously recognized.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	southern ocean,carbon sink,earth and planetary sciences(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2016 07:53
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2023 10:41
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59471
DOI:	10.1126/science.aab2620

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