CO2 and climate change: deciphering the role of the high-latitude oceans

With every ton of carbon injected to the atmosphere, humanity makes a commitment to long term changes in climate. The severity of that commitment will depend on how Earth's carbon sinks, that remove carbon from the atmosphere, are themselves altered by the ensuing climatic shifts.

The role of the ocean is critical: CO2 dissolves in seawater, allowing the ocean to take up about 30% of the CO2 emitted to date. The future trajectory of atmospheric CO2 - and climate - is thus critically dependent on the behaviour of the ocean CO2 sink.

High latitude regions are particularly important, as cooling of surface water allows more CO2 to dissolve (similar to CO2 bubbles in a cold fizzy drink). Cooling also increases density, allowing CO2-laden water to sink and be stored in the ocean's abyss.

However, high latitude mixing can also bring CO2 back up to the surface. Depending on the speed at which this CO2 is removed by photosynthesis, and the degree to which it is capped by sea ice, the high latitude oceans may act either as a CO2 source, or a CO2 sink.

At present, these processes are not well represented in the computer models used to predict CO2 change in the future. For example, most models misrepresent the seasonal cycle of CO2 uptake and release in the Southern Ocean. They also tend to predict that the ocean will continue to absorb CO2 like a simple sponge, but from the geological record we know that the ocean can switch from a carbon sink to a carbon source with surprising speed.

It is therefore critically important that we improve simulation of fundamental processes in the ocean carbon cycle and understand the dynamic ways in which oceanic CO2 has changed in the past and could change in the future. These are the core aims of this proposal.

To achieve this, I will harness insights from paleo data alongside new developments in carbon cycle modelling. Pairing these approaches will allow us to answer major questions about Earth's past, such as the causes of ice age CO2 change, and to use paleo observations to help test and improve the oceanographic tools used to predict our future.

Firstly, I will examine biases in state-of-the-art carbon cycle models by evaluating how carbon is stored within oceanic layers known as watermasses. Watermass analysis has been one of the most successful tools in oceanography but has been used surprisingly little to study the ocean carbon cycle. It also lends itself well to paleo data, to test how carbon was stored in the ice age ocean.

Secondly, I will develop new ways of simulating processes of carbon uptake at high latitudes. The complexity and fine spatial scales involved make this challenging for global models. Here, I will use "idealised" approaches which focus on the most essential processes and regions. Specific targets include the spinning circulation of the North Atlantic and the complex interactions in the Southern Ocean, and these will be compared to records of rapid deglacial CO2 change from these regions. A long term aim is to apply novel mathematical approaches to make a new style of model of global ocean carbon.

Thirdly, I will bring together these new insights to create efficient models of the global ocean carbon cycle and its interaction with climate. I will harness them to examine the causes of ice age CO2 change, and trajectories of CO2 uptake in the future.

This work will provide oceanographers, climate scientists, and paleoceanographers with a new toolkit for examining major CO2 change. I have positioned myself at the nexus of these fields, and the complementary expertise available at St Andrews, coupled with that of a leading group of project partners, will allow me to undertake the bold, interdisciplinary work needed for a step change in our understanding of the ocean carbon cycle. The reach and impact of this work will be extended directly to policymakers by creation of user-friendly models of future CO2 trajectories and their impact on climate.