The biological productivity of the Southern Ocean in the summertime is substantially greater than many previous estimates have suggested, according to new airborne research by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR). The findings provide new insight into the global carbon cycle and point to a reason why Earth system models have struggled to accurately capture the role of the Southern Ocean: Models that underestimate the ocean's biological productivity also tend to underestimate the ocean's capacity to uptake carbon.

The biological productivity of the Southern Ocean in the summertime is substantially greater than many previous estimates have suggested, according to new airborne research by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR). The findings provide new insight into the global carbon cycle and point to a reason why Earth system models have struggled to accurately capture the role of the Southern Ocean: Models that underestimate the ocean’s biological productivity also tend to underestimate the ocean’s capacity to uptake carbon.

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