Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
Thu Oct 1, 2015, 09:22 PM Oct 2015

How ocean circulation changed atmospheric CO2

https://www.climatescience.org.au/content/917-how-ocean-circulation-changed-atmospheric-co2#overlay-context=content/257-national
[font face=Serif][font size=5] How ocean circulation changed atmospheric CO₂[/font]

Submitted by astone on Thu, 09/24/2015 - 23:19

[font size=3]Scientists have struggled for the past few decades to understand why air temperatures around Antarctica over the past one million years were almost perfectly in synch with atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Both dipped down during glacial ice ages and back up again during warm interglacials.

...

“This relationship between Antarctica temperature and CO₂ suggested that somehow the Southern Ocean was pivotal in controlling natural atmospheric CO₂ concentrations,” said Dr Maxim Nikurashin from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science.

“The key that unlocked the mystery was the colder atmosphere and extensive sea ice around Antarctica during the glacial period. Together they fundamentally changed top to bottom ocean circulation and enabled more CO₂ to be drawn from the atmosphere.”

...

“The biological processes that take up carbon from the atmosphere even take place in and under the ice, if that ice is not too thick, which is why the biological processes persisted for a lot longer during cooler periods,” the authors said.

...[/font][/font]
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2538.html
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Environment & Energy»How ocean circulation cha...