Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Friday 18 January 2008, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Andrew Lenton
Visiting Scientist/Post-doctoral
LOCEAN-IPSL, Paris

The combine effects of rising atmospheric CO2 and declining stratospheric ozone on the past and future uptake of CO2 by the Southern Ocean

Observations show that the Southern Ocean is a decreasing sink of atmospheric CO2. This climatic trend is linked to the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), the leading mode of variability in the Southern Ocean. The SAM in its positive phase increases wind speeds over the Southern Ocean decreasing the uptake of atmospheric CO2. The SAM is driven in equal parts by greenhouse gases (GHGs) and the Antarctic ozone hole. Coupled climate carbon models used to project the future response of the Southern Ocean have not been able capture this decreasing trend in CO2 uptake, nor the increasing wind speed. In this study we use the French IPSL coupled climate carbon model and prescribe an ozone hole in conjunction with GHGs, with the goal of reproducing the observed wind speed changes and hence the observed trend in CO2 uptake.

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Bernadette Sloyan, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5152
Thomas Kunz, (Biological seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5076
Natalie Dowling, (Fisheries Modelling) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5148
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Sandra Zicus, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 7888
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 11/01/08