Tropical cyclones now release ocean carbon, but warming could flip role by 2035

Tropical cyclones now release ocean carbon, but warming could flip role by 2035

The ocean is an important carbon sink that absorbs 20–30% of the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the industrial era (1.0–3.0 Pg annually, 1 Pg = 1015 g). Tropical cyclones are among the most devastating weather systems that profoundly disturb the upper ocean. However, their role in the global carbon cycle has been controversial: do tropical cyclones lead to net carbon absorption or release by the ocean, and does it matter?

Cyclone Cycles Increase Global Warming

A new computer estimate says that the ocean is an important carbon sink that absorbs 40 to 60 percent of China's anthropogenic CO2 emissions but tropical cyclones prevent the oceans from absorbing more.Understanding the impact of the ocean on sequestering carbon is important, because China builds two new coal plants each week and emits more pollution than the rest of the top 10 countries combined. Until they stop exempting themselves from pollut…

Hurricanes Have Been Releasing Carbon Into the Atmosphere. Climate Change Is Reversing That.

Every year, roughly 90 tropical cyclones spin up across the world’s oceans, each one dragging carbon dioxide out of the sea and flinging it into the air. That, at least, is what most scientists assumed. The problem was that nobody had managed to measure the whole thing properly. Ships don’t sail into hurricanes. Moored sensors … Read more The post Hurricanes Have Been Releasing Carbon Into the Atmosphere. Climate Change Is Reversing That. appear…

Tropical Cyclone Impact on Ocean Carbon Outgassing Declines

The vast expanse of the world’s oceans plays a critical role in the Earth’s carbon cycle, serving as a major sink for anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. It is estimated that oceans absorb between 20 to 30 percent of the CO₂ produced by human activities, acting as a buffer to mitigate the accelerating pace of climate change. However, this carbon exchange across the air-sea interface is anything but static, being influenced by a host of physi…