Climate change early warning system on the cards
Researchers have developed a new way to measure the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) by oceans, and have successfully mapped the CO2 uptake of the North Atlantic. The study's results are part of the EU-funded CARBOOCEAN project, which received EUR 14.5 million in support under the 'Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems' Thematic area of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). The findings were published in the journal Science. The results of this research, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK, will raise awareness of the natural ocean 'sinks' and give scientists the tools they need to make more accurate predictions about the effects of climate change on our planet. 'The oceans are a major sink for atmospheric [CO2]. Historically, observations have been too sparse to allow accurate tracking of changes in rates of CO2 uptake over ocean basins, so little is known about how these vary,' the authors wrote. 'Here, we show observations indicating substantial variability in the CO2 uptake by the North Atlantic on time sales of a few years. Further, we use measurements from a coordinated network of instrumented commercial ships to define the annual flux into the North Atlantic, for the year 2005, to a precision of about 10%.' According to the researchers, this approach will help intensify accurate monitoring of the changing CO2 ocean sink for ocean basins that have high shipping traffic activity. This latest innovative approach could fuel development of an 'early warning system' with the capacity to detect any weakening of the ocean sinks, the first hint that climate change is making its presence felt more significantly, according to a number of researchers' speculations. The researchers used a network of commercial ships carrying chemical sensors in their engine rooms. Satellite observations of sea surface temperature were also used in combination with the sensors to map the uptake of atmospheric CO2 throughout the North Atlantic Ocean. The study's findings showed considerable differences in the North Atlantic absorption of CO2 over many years. This absorption is sensitive to regional changes in climate, according to the team. 'These exciting results from our new coordinated network represent the first time scientists have observed CO2 uptake over any large region of the world - either land or ocean - with such accuracy,' explained Professor Andrew Watson of the UEA's School of Environmental Sciences. 'Our new method estimates the flux and how it varies from year to year and season to season, showing patterns of uptake with a detail never before realised.' The researchers are confident that comparable networks can be set up in other major ocean basins that are covered by shipping. These networks would allow scientists to observe carbon uptake over the majority of the planet's oceans. Scientists say the uptake of CO2 is crucial in decelerating the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere. The researchers are from Bermuda, France, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US. The CARBOOCEAN ('Marine carbon sources and sinks assessment') partners, who expect to bring the project to a close by end-2009, say fuelling human knowledge about how anthropogenic emissions affect the climate by warming up the atmosphere is important. CO2 is the most significant and manageable agent for climate change, the researchers say.