The key part of understanding where carbon emissions end up is by monitoring the ocean carbon levels. Carbon emissions either becomes stored on land or in the ocean, or they remain in the atmosphere.
When the ocean absorbs carbon, it helps to slow climate change because carbon is stored for thousands of years instead of increasing the percentage in the atmosphere where it can contribute to global heating.
How ocean carbon affects the environment
A study led by the University of Exeter, UK, found that existing satellites that were originally launched to monitor wind, rain, waves, foam, and the atmosphere can be used to monitor carbon dioxide levels in the ocean.
It is critical for our future climate that we understand the importance of ocean carbon levels and regulating them, according to the recent IPCC report.
Oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface, making the monitoring difficult. The researchers said that tapping into the existing satellite network would be important for filling critical knowledge gaps regarding global warming.
Dr. Jamie Shutler from the Centre for Geography and Environmental Science on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall said monitoring carbon uptake by the oceans is now critical to understand our climate and for making sure that the future health of the animals that live in the ocean.
By monitoring the oceans, experts can gather the needed information to help protect ecosystems that are at risk and to motivate societal shifts towards cutting carbon emissions. The researchers called for a robust network that gathers and combines data from different satellites, ship automated floats, and instruments that could routinely measure surface water carbon dioxide.
This robust network could be done through an international charter, as well as drawing on tools like Google Earth Engine, according to researchers. Satellites that are launched in the future give more potential for monitoring ocean carbon levels. The researchers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the European Space Agency, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contributed to the study.
The importance of ocean carbon monitoring
The more carbon dioxide that people release into the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels, the more the ocean will absorb it. The ocean continues absorbing more and more carbon dioxide until global warming heated the waters enough to slow down ocean circulation. The water that is trapped at the surface would be saturated, and the ocean would slow its carbon uptake.
This is important because if the ocean takes up less carbon because of global warming, more carbon will be left in the atmosphere where it can contribute to additional warming. Experts wanted to understand how the ocean carbon cycle can change so that they could make a more accurate prediction about global warming. Oceanographers and scientists began their research cruises, trolling across Alaska to Hawaii, Pacific from Japan to California, and through the North Atlantic from Europe to North America.
After 30 years of research, there is still a lot of studies that need to be done in order to understand how ocean carbon can help lessen the effect of global warming in the future.
