OCEANFUL OF CO2

Southern Ocean saturated with carbon dioxide: study
Deborah Zabarenko, May 17, 2007 (Reuters via Yahoo News)

WHO
Corinne Le Quere, researcher, University of East Anglia in Britain

WHAT
Analysis of data from the 1981 to 2004 period shows the Southern Ocean, previously thought to be a “sink” for anthropomorphic carbon dioxide emissions, is heavily saturated and not expected to be as helpful as hoped during this century at holding off climate change.
click to enlarge
WHEN
Published in the most recent issue of the journal Science.
1981 to 2004 data shows the ocean is saturated with carbon at levels that would have been expected after 2050.

WHERE
Studies were of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.

WHY
Oceans and forests typically absorb CO2. Forest plants use the gas in photosynthesis, giving back oxygen. Ocean plankton do the same. The Southern Ocean has been thought capable of neutralizing 15% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activity. This reports data says it is too saturated to do so.
The saturation is the result of winds, which have brought up naturally occurring ocean carbon, reducing capacity to absorb GHGs. The winds are the result of ozone depletion-induced temperature changes and global warming-induced temperature changes.
Notice how different in color the Southern Ocean is (click to enlarge)
QUOTES
Le Quere: "We thought we would be able to detect these only the second half of this century, say 2050 or so…But data from 1981 through 2004 show the sink is already full of carbon dioxide. So I find this really quite alarming."
Chris Rapley, British Antarctic Survey: "Since the beginning of the industrial revolution the world's oceans have absorbed about a quarter of the 500 gigatons (500 billion tons) of carbon emitted into the atmosphere by humans…The possibility that in a warmer world the Southern Ocean -- the strongest ocean sink -- is weakening is a cause for concern…"