Researchers from the University of East Anglia have discovered that the Southern Ocean, which absorbs 0.7 billion tonnes of CO2 annually – the equivalent to the combined annual emissions of the UK and the Netherlands – is currently soaking up the same amount as it was 24 years ago. Scientists had expected rates of CO2 absorption to increase in line with rising levels in the atmosphere, but the depletion of the ozone layer and alterations to local wind patterns have reduced uptake, they said.

Another study, carried out by researchers at the University of Bristol, has put the recent unexplained sharp increase in CO2 levels down to a reduction in the ability of plants and the soil to absorb the gas. The scientists blamed unusually hot and dry conditions – the result of global warming – for the lower uptake.

July 2007