The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink

Type Article
Date 2015-09-11
Language English
Author(s) Landschutzer Peter1, Gruber Nicolas1, 2, Haumann Alexander1, 2, Rodenbeck Christian3, Bakker Dorothee C. E.4, Van Heuven Steven5, Hoppema Mario5, Metzl Nicolas6, Sweeney Colm7, 8, Takahashi Taro9, Tilbrook Bronte10, 11, Wanninkhof Rik12
Affiliation(s) 1 : ETH, Inst Biogeochem & Pollutant Dynam, Environm Phys, Zurich, Switzerland.
2 : ETH, C2SM, Zurich, Switzerland.
3 : Max Planck Inst Biogeochem, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
4 : Univ E Anglia, Sch Environm Sci, Ctr Ocean & Atmospher Sci, Norwich NR4 7TJ, Norfolk, England.
5 : Helmholtz Ctr Polar & Marine Res, Alfred Wegener Inst, Bremerhaven, Germany.
6 : Univ Paris 06, Univ Paris 04, CNRS, IRD,MNHN,LOCEAN,IPSL Lab, F-75005 Paris, France.
7 : Univ Colorado, Cooperat Inst Res Environm Sci, Boulder, CO 80309 USA.
8 : NOAA, Earth Syst Res Lab, Boulder, CO USA.
9 : Columbia Univ, Lamont Doherty Earth Observ, Palisades, NY USA.
10 : CSIRO, Hobart, Tas, Australia.
11 : Antarctic Climate & Ecosyst Cooperat Res Ctr, Hobart, Tas, Australia.
12 : NOAA, Atlantic Oceanog & Meteorol Lab, Miami, FL 33149 USA.
Source Science (0036-8075) (Amer Assoc Advancement Science), 2015-09-11 , Vol. 349 , N. 6253 , P. 1221-1224
DOI 10.1126/science.aab2620
WOS© Times Cited 307
Note EU grant 283080 (GEO-CARBON)
Abstract 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.
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Landschutzer Peter, Gruber Nicolas, Haumann Alexander, Rodenbeck Christian, Bakker Dorothee C. E., Van Heuven Steven, Hoppema Mario, Metzl Nicolas, Sweeney Colm, Takahashi Taro, Tilbrook Bronte, Wanninkhof Rik (2015). The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink. Science, 349(6253), 1221-1224. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab2620 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00292/40366/