Too many human activities are the source of carbon dioxide emissions. Fortunately, this CO2 is partially absorbed not only by plants, but also by the oceans. Slowing down anthropogenic global warming. And today, researchers are signaling that the Southern Ocean may well be even more effective in this area than they previously thought.
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[EN VIDÉO] Top 5 crazy numbers on the ocean Oceans cover 72% of the planet’s surface and represent 97% of the water on Earth. They are home to incredible biodiversity, provide the oxygen we breathe and are an unlimited source of energy.
The Southern Ocean is known to scientists for its efficiency in absorbing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) in excess in our atmosphere. It thus plays an important role of regulator of our weather. Even more in the context of global warming anthropic that we live. And today, researchers from National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR, United States) even report that the Southern Ocean could prove to be even more effective in matter than they had imagined until then.
They draw this conclusion from measurements taken from research aircraft over the past decade. From work on atmospheric models, also. All of this complements measurements made at the surface of the oceans. Measurements already available, but too fragmented to give a precise picture of CO exchanges2 that occur between the atmosphere and the sea.
The data collected during the air campaigns, meanwhile, made it possible to capture the gradient vertical CO2. The researchers even tell how they were able to see the CO concentrations2 decrease significantly each time their plane plunged near the ocean surface. Showing turbulence, evidence of close contact betweenair and water.
Better understand carbon sinks
Working over several campaigns spread over different times of the year, all over a ten-year interval, ultimately allowed the researchers to reconstruct a clear picture of the amount of CO2 what’Southern Ocean absorbs or releases. According to them, theabsorption is much more important in summer. Probably thanks to the proliferation of phytoplankton. Overall, over a year, researchers estimate that the ocean bordering theAntarctic absorbs no less than two billion tonnes of CO2.
Better understand the positioning and functioning of carbon sink distributed over our planet today appears crucial. This could help to better predict the global warming to come on the one hand. And on the other hand, to assess the impact of measures to reduce our emissions greenhouse gases.
Researchers from National Center for Atmospheric Research suggest that a regular program of aerial observations over the Southern Ocean could, for example, help to understand whether the region’s capacity to absorb carbon is changing under the effect of global warming. They even argue that the method could provide important information in other parts of the world.
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