Southern Ocean confirmed as strong carbon dioxide sink

DC-8 planes can be equipped with instrumentation for atmospheric measurements. Credit: NASA

Research published in recent years has suggested the Southern Ocean might be absorbing less carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere than previously thought.  But a new study published this week in the journal Science confirms the role of the Southern Ocean as a significant carbon sink.

Using observations from research aircraft flown during three field projects over nearly a decade, as well as a collection of atmospheric models, researchers found that the Southern Ocean absorbs 550 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year, or about 18 percent of the amount absorbed by all the world’s oceans. The study highlighted the value of airborne observations when investigating the global carbon cycle.

“You can’t fool the atmosphere,” said NCAR scientist Matthew Long, the paper’s lead author. “While measurements taken from the ocean surface and from land are important, they are too sparse to provide a reliable picture of air-sea carbon flux. The atmosphere, however, can integrate fluxes over large expanses.”

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