Work

The ocean carbon sinks and climate change

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: The oceans act as major carbon dioxide sinks, greatly influencing global climate. Knowing how these sinks evolve would advance our understanding of climate dynamics. We construct a conceptual box model for the oceans to predict the temporal and spatial evolution of CO2 of each ocean, and the time-evolution of their salinities. Surface currents, deep water flows, freshwater influx, and major fluvial contributions are considered, as also the effect of changing temperature with time. We uncover the strongest carbon uptake to be from the Southern Ocean, followed by the Atlantic. The North Atlantic evolves into the most saline ocean with time and increasing temperatures. The Amazon River is found to have significant effects on CO2 sequestration trends. An alternative flow scenario of the Amazon is investigated, giving interesting insights into the global climate in the Miocene epoch.

Source: Chaos An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science

DOI: 10.1063/5.0164196

Authors: Eros M. Sunny, Balakrishnan Ashok, Janaki Balakrishnan, Jürgen Kurths

Institutions: National Institute of Advanced Studies, International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Language: English

Topic: Marine and coastal ecosystems

Subfield: Oceanography

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Life below water

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India, Science and Engineering Research Board