The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink

Peter Landschützer, Nicolas Gruber, F. Alexander Haumann, Christian Rödenbeck, Dorothee C. E. Bakker, Steven van Heuven, Mario Hoppema, Nicolas Metzl, Colm Sweeney, Taro Takahashi, Bronte Tilbrook, Rik Wanninkhof
2015 Science  
Several studies have suggested that the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean-the ocean's strongest region for the uptake of anthropogenic CO 2 -has weakened in recent decades. We demonstrated, on the basis of multidecadal analyses of surface ocean CO 2 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 CO 2 . All three Southern Ocean sectors have contributed to this reinvigoration of the
more » ... arbon 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.
doi:10.1126/science.aab2620 pmid:26359401 fatcat:mmbm7bycxbb3fbyqq2jcio3jf4