New research led by the University of Exeter has found that the global oceans soak up more carbon than most scientific models suggest.

The study takes into account temperature differences at the water’s surface and a few metres below, and has found significantly higher net flux (or movement) of carbon into the oceans. Lower flux can, in turn, result in an increase or decrease in the amount of carbon kept in the oceans.

This study has taken into account several factors, including temperature, sea surface height, the mass of the storms that produce tropical cyclones (tropical cyclone activity has declined dramatically in the past ~2 decades due to climate change), vegetation, phytoplankton, and the movement of nutrients such as silt and sand through the ocean.

Published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the study finds carbon uptake by the oceans depends on cold water temperature, where water is denser and pushes up to the surface. This mass movement of water into the ocean offsets any flooding that a tropical cyclone could cause.

Lead author Dr. Clare Puller, from the Massspective Oceanography Unit (MOU), University of Exeter, said:

"Our paper is the first attempt to estimate the extent to which the oceans have absorbed significant amounts of carbon over the past 50-60 years."

Credit: University of Exeter Perspective Magazine

The implication is that the ups and downs in carbon uptake by the oceans over the past fifty years could influence the so-called global temperature rise remembered as Well, 'climate sensitivity'‒ a central question in climate science.

The work is part of a larger effort by the MOU to clarify the global carbon cycle. The current research project follows Dr. Puller's analysis of ocean measurements retrieved from unmanned submarines throughout the Southern Ocean in the March edition of the New Scientist.

Explore further: Once-in-a-generation U.S. data shows carbon uptake by ocean through 2013

More information: Remotely Assessed Carbon Dynamics in the Southern Ocean: Revised Estimates for Atmospheric and Sea Level Carbon Sinkage, Nature Climate Change, DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1596

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