Marine breathing plays on the climate

A research group of the IFM-GEOMAR, institute for the Sciences of the Sea of ​​the community Leibniz, publishes in the last edition of Science the conclusions of work according to which the ocean "would breathe". Scientists from Kiel have used it exclusively in the
Labrador, a measuring robot with oxygen sensors.

Research, carried out within the framework of an international project, shows that in winter, this sea "inspires" large quantities of atmospheric oxygen. Like a lung, the Labrador Sea seems to supply much of the deep layers of the Atlantic Ocean with oxygen. The measurements also show that the oxygen absorbed is quickly redistributed by the intermediary of marine currents throughout the ocean.

This could have significant consequences for climate research, as the oceanic oxygen concentration is closely related to that in the atmosphere. This discovery thus opens the way for new research on climate change.

contacts:
- Teacher. Arne Kortzinger, IfM-GEOMAR - email:
akoertzinger@ifm-geomar.de
Bibliography: "The Ocean Takes A Deep Breath", Science, 19/11/2004. Authors
A. Kortzinger, J. Schimanski, U. Send, D. Wallace
Sources: Depeche IDW, Leibniz Institute Press Release for
Marine Sciences, 18 / 11 / 2004
Editor: Antoinette Serban,
antoinette.serban@diplomatie.gouv.fr

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