A new study found that the Southern Ocean is absorbing more greenhouse gases compared to recent years. The findings debunk an earlier belief that Antarctica cannot survive too much carbon dioxide.
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean is responsible for absorbing 40 percent of man-made carbon dioxide.
Nicolas Gruber, the study's lead author from Swiss university ETH Zurich, developed a statistical model to predict how climate change would affect the Antarctic. The researchers calculated how much carbon dioxide would be absorbed by the ocean as the levels increase.
Scientists observed that the ocean's carbon absorption has stalled since the late 1980s. That is why they were surprised when the new model showed that the Southern Ocean had absorbed 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2011, twice the amount registered in 1990.
"We were surprised to see such large variations in this ocean's net carbon uptake," Gruber said in a university news release.
The new finding suggests that the Southern Ocean has recovered its ability to absorb many carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The researchers attribute the recovery of the ocean to the weather and wind pattern changes in the region. Since the 1990s, the winds and the air pressure in the Southern Ocean have become stronger compared to previous years. The water temperature of the water surface is also colder now, allowing the Southern Ocean to absorb more carbon dioxide.
The researchers are uncertain how long the Southern Ocean can sustain its ability to absorb the carbon dioxide and that further observation and analysis is needed.
"This announcement is good news, on the face of it, because we want this enormous carbon sink to keep working efficiently. It is not any reason to be complacent, however, because we still understand rather little about the internal workings of the Southern Ocean carbon cycle. For this reason we cannot be sure how resilient the Southern Ocean carbon sink will be in the future," Toby Tyrrell, professor in earth system science in ocean and earth science at the University of Southampton, told The Market Business. He is not part of the study.
The study was published in the Sept. 11 issue of Science.
