Southern Tag

In the past 50 years, the oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat caused by our carbon dioxide emissions, with one ocean absorbing the vast majority. "The Southern Ocean dominates this ocean heat uptake, due in part to the geographic set-up of the region," said UNSW PhD candidate Maurice Huguenin, the lead author of the new study published today in Nature Communications. "Antarctica, which is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, is also surrounded by strong westerly winds," Mr Huguenin said. "These winds influence how the waters absorb heat, and around Antarctica they can exert this influence while remaining uninterrupted by land masses -- this is key to the Southern Ocean being responsible for pretty much all of the net global ocean...