University of Bergen researchers have found that a relevant amount of CO2 emissions are ‘missing’ and may be sequestered in the deep layers of the Greenland Sea. This finding suggests that we may not be as successful in monitoring and quantifying all CO2 released to our atmosphere which is a necessity in the fight against climate change.
Phantom Blots of CO2
Nearly a billion tons of CO2 has been missing from the global carbon sum, as indicated by the examination team, driven by Professor Are Olsen.
That ‘missing’ CO2 is thought to have been taken up by the ocean and carried into the far depths of the Greenland Sea, effectively disappearing from view. By understanding which… ocean currents have transported more of this CO2 to the deep sea, which is now being stored offshore for longer periods and evaporated into the atmosphere over several decades.
The ramifications of this find are profound. How can we really know how much difference all our efforts to cut CO2 is making if we cannot pin down where that CO2 goes to? That could let slip through the ‘phantom blots’ of CO2 concealed in the Greenland Sea and ultimately derail international treaties and instruments intended to keep countries within strict limits on their outflows.
Growing deeper into the mystery
More specifically, the scientists discovered that the distribution of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the Greenland Sea did not match their expectations. Traditionally that water at the bottom of the ocean is carbon-rich because when algae die and other organic material degrades, it falls to the floor.
Yet the observations made by the team were in contrast with this too; this peak concentration of carbon was actually present in younger water, located 1500–2000 meters deep. This implies that the Greenland Sea has been taking up more CO2 from the atmosphere and reduces in transporting it into the deep ocean back a few decades.
To verify that the extra carbon did not come from an organic source, or in other words to establish a link with man made emissions releasing it into the waters, they also looked at levels of nitrogen and oxygen in the water. This non-change in the levels showed that it was not from rotting biological material–it may take a while to find out the corpses were in fact more than 100,000 years old; instead, its point of origin was our own CO2 we have been blasting into the air.
This new finding has illuminated a previously unknown outpost of the global carbon cycle. This ominous finding suggests that these ‘phantom blots’ of CO2 could be lurking elsewhere within the oceans and might just be the tip of an even larger iceberg.
Conclusion
According to these results, a research team at the University of Bergen has completed a large international paths that fills in an important gap in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. The detection of one billion tons of “missing” CO2 in the deep waters of the Greenland see highlights a real problem with our monitoring and understanding all emissions.
Given the urgency to tackle climate change, we need to see the full picture of where our emitted CO2 eventually goes. These “phantom blots” tucked away deep in the marine depths could jeopardize our ability to comply with international conventions and to ensure that countries are living up to their commitments. Going forward, additional studies and new monitoring solutions are needed to fill these data gaps and demonstrate whether our climate action plans have been successful.
