The ocean carbon sinks and climate change

• Published in: Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science
• Main Authors: Sunny, Eros M., Ashok, Balakrishnan, Balakrishnan, Janaki, Kurths, Jürgen
• Other Authors: Science and Engineering Research Board
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing 2023
• Subjects: Applied Mathematics; General Physics and Astronomy; Mathematical Physics; Statistical and Nonlinear Physics; Southern Ocean; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0164196; https://pubs.aip.org/aip/cha/article-pdf/doi/10.1063/5.0164196/18182994/103134_1_5.0164196.pdf

The oceans act as major carbon dioxide sinks, greatly influencing global climate. Knowing how these sinks evolve would advance our understanding of climate dynamics. We construct a conceptual box model for the oceans to predict the temporal and spatial evolution of CO2 of each ocean, and the time-evolution of their salinities. Surface currents, deep water flows, freshwater influx, and major fluvial contributions are considered, as also the effect of changing temperature with time. We uncover the strongest carbon uptake to be from the Southern Ocean, followed by the Atlantic. The North Atlantic evolves into the most saline ocean with time and increasing temperatures. The Amazon River is found to have significant effects on CO2 sequestration trends. An alternative flow scenario of the Amazon is investigated, giving interesting insights into the global climate in the Miocene epoch.