The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 349; no. 6253; pp. 1221 - 1224
• 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
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 11.09.2015; The American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Subjects: Antarctic Regions; Atmosphere - chemistry; Atmospherics; Carbon; Carbon cycle; Carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - chemistry; Carbon Sequestration; Computer Simulation; Dynamics; Geophysics; Neural Networks (Computer); Oceanography; Oceans; Oceans and Seas; Physics; Seawater - chemistry; Southern Ocean; Strength; Uptakes; Antarctic Regions; Southern Ocean
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aab2620

Several studies have suggested that the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean—the ocean's strongest region for the uptake of anthropogenic CO2—has weakened in recent decades. We demonstrated, on the basis of multidecadal analyses of surface ocean CO2 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 CO2. All three Southern Ocean sectors have contributed to this reinvigoration of the carbon 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.