New research reveals the importance of winter sea ice in the year-to-year variability of the amount of atmospheric CO2 absorbed by a region of the Southern Ocean.
New research reveals the importance of winter sea ice in the year-to-year variability of the amount of atmospheric CO2 absorbed by a region of the Southern Ocean.
In years when sea ice lasts longer in winter, the ocean will overall absorb 20% more CO2 from the atmosphere than in years when sea ice forms late or disappears early. This is because sea ice protects the ocean from strong winter winds that drive mixing between the surface of the ocean and its deeper, carbon-rich layers.
The findings, based on data collected in a coastal system along the west Antarctic Peninsula, show that what happens in winter is crucial in explaining this variability in CO2 uptake.
The study was led by scientists at the University of East Anglia, in collaboration with colleagues from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI, Germany), British Antarctic Survey (BAS, UK) and Institute of Marine Research (IMR, Norway). It is published today in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
Read more at University of East Anglia
Image: Sea ice in the Southern Ocean. (Credit: Elise Droste (UEA))
