June 12, 2009 -- The depleted ozone layer is wreaking havoc with winds over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, according to a new study.
Shifting air currents are preventing waters from soaking up the man-made portion of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), and simultaneously worsening the effects of ocean acidification.
Led by Andrew Lenton of the Pierre and Marie Curie University in France, a team of researchers found that between 1987 and 2004, stronger winds over the Southern Ocean dredged up deep, carbon-rich waters. With carbon concentrated near the surface, a total of nearly 2.5 billion tons of atmospheric CO2 couldn't dissolve into the ocean.
By comparison, human activity emits around 8 billion tons of carbon each year.
Carbon in the upper reaches of the ocean makes the waters more acidic. While scientists still don't fully understand how acidification affects marine life, they worry that plunging pH could damage populations of plankton, krill, and fish larvae -- organisms that form the foundation of the food web.
Shifting air currents are preventing waters from soaking up the man-made portion of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), and simultaneously worsening the effects of ocean acidification.
Led by Andrew Lenton of the Pierre and Marie Curie University in France, a team of researchers found that between 1987 and 2004, stronger winds over the Southern Ocean dredged up deep, carbon-rich waters. With carbon concentrated near the surface, a total of nearly 2.5 billion tons of atmospheric CO2 couldn't dissolve into the ocean.
By comparison, human activity emits around 8 billion tons of carbon each year.
Carbon in the upper reaches of the ocean makes the waters more acidic. While scientists still don't fully understand how acidification affects marine life, they worry that plunging pH could damage populations of plankton, krill, and fish larvae -- organisms that form the foundation of the food web.
