The Southern Ocean Shows A Revived Ability To Absorb Atmospheric CO2

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The Southern Ocean has some of the roughest seas, and plays a major role in carbon absorption. Nicolas Metzl, LOCEAN/IPSL Laboratory

The Southern Ocean plays a major role in absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and locking it away in the cold depths, acting as one of the world’s most important carbon sinks. But during the 1990s, a decrease in uptake was observed, suggesting its carbon-sucking abilities were stagnating. Two new studies have now, however, shown that the Southern Ocean seems to have bounced back, reviving its ability to absorb more greenhouse gasses.