Trends and variability in the ocean carbon sink ...

• Main Authors: Gruber, Nicolas, Bakker, Dorothee C.E., DeVries, Tim, Gregor, Luke, Hauck, Judith, Landschützer, Peter, McKinley, Galen A., Müller, Jens Daniel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2023
• Subjects: Ocean carbon cycle; Carbon budget; Oceanography; FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; Climate; infoeu-repo/classification/ddc/550; Earth sciences; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000595538; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/595538

The ocean has absorbed 25 ± 2% of the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions from the early 1960s to the late 2010s, with rates more than tripling over this period and with a mean uptake of –2.7 ± 0.3 Pg C year–1 for the period 1990 through 2019. This growth of the ocean sink matches expectations based on the increase in atmospheric CO2, but research has shown that the sink is more variable than long assumed. In this Review, we discuss trends and variations in the ocean carbon sink. The sink stagnated during the 1990s with rates hovering around –2 Pg C year–1, but strengthened again after approximately 2000, taking up around –3 Pg C year–1 for 2010–2019. The most conspicuous changes in uptake occurred in the high latitudes, especially the Southern Ocean. These variations are caused by changes in weather and climate, but a volcanic eruption-induced reduction in the atmospheric CO2 growth rate and the associated global cooling contributed as well. Understanding the variability of the ocean carbon sink is crucial ... : Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 4 ...