Where the Ocean Exhales
The Southern Ocean controls how much carbon is released into the atmosphere—and our warming world is changing it. The post Where the Ocean Exhales appeared first on Nautilus.
When one thinks of Antarctica, one imagines a vast landscape in shades of blinding white, ice and snow stretching as far as the eye can see. But to really consider Antarctica is to consider its water.
The Southern Ocean, which encircles Antarctica, is where the ocean exhales. It is the primary place where the water of the deep oceans rises to the surface, mingles with the atmosphere in a kind of embrace, and then sinks back into the depths. In the course of this exchange, the Southern Ocean both consumes carbon from the atmosphere natural carbon sink. The Southern Ocean therefore controls the global exchange of carbon between ocean and atmosphere, which is vital to . But climate change may alter this dynamic.
