The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Landschützer, Peter, Gruber, Nicolas, Haumann, F. Alexander, Rödenbeck, Christian, Bakker, Dorothee C. E., van Heuven, Steven, Hoppema, Mario, Metzl, Nicolas, Sweeney, Colm, Takahashi, Taro, Tilbrook, Bronte, Wanninkhof, Rik
• Other Authors: U.S. National Science Foundation, NOAA, European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme, ETH, European Union (EU), EU
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2015
• Subjects: Southern Ocean
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aab2620; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.aab2620

Uptake uptick Has global warming slowed the uptake of atmospheric CO 2 by the Southern Ocean? Landschützer et al. say no (see the Perspective by Fletcher). Previous work suggested that the strength of the Southern Ocean carbon sink fell during the 1990s. This raised concerns that such a decline would exacerbate the rise of atmospheric CO 2 and thereby increase global surface air temperatures and ocean acidity. The newer data show that the Southern Ocean carbon sink strengthened again over the past decade, which illustrates the dynamic nature of the process and alleviates some of the anxiety about its earlier weakening trend. Science , this issue p. 1221 see also p. 1165