The ocean?s capacity to take up the carbon humans put in the atmosphere is waning, according to a new study reported in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Previous studies, with often contradictory results, show that the amount of atmospheric carbon absorbed by the oceans varies from year to year. University of Wisconsin oceanic sciences Professor Galen McKinley says her work – in collaboration with colleagues at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris – examines extended data analysis over time.