Energy & Science
Ocean Discovery Complicates Plans to Slash Climate Pollution
The ocean’s ability to absorb industrial CO₂ stopped keeping pace with emissions in the 1990s. Here’s what may have happened.
Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Philippines on June 12, 1991.
Photographer: Arlan Naeg/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Scientists have struggled for decades to explain a climate mystery as deep as the ocean.
Oceans have absorbed almost 40% of carbon dioxide humanity has emitted from fossil fuels since 1750, considerably slowing global temperature rise, but the forces that govern how much CO₂ disappears into the deep every year are unknown. The early 1990s saw a jump in this sponge-like capacity, followed by a significant slowdown until 2001, raising concerns that the ocean may not be able to help us out forever.