It has been found in a new study that the Southern Ocean has begun taking up more greenhouse gases following a phase when the gigantic ocean’s uptake had fallen by nearly a half. It appeared through the 1990s that the ocean’s contribution as an important carbon “sink” was decreasing.

However, after 2002 it started recovering to its earlier level. In 2011, it absorbed 1.2bn tonnes of carbon. This massive uptake is approximately the same to the annual carbon output of European Union. This absorption was twice that of its lowest point when it started decreasing.

The study has been carried out by scientists based in France, Switzerland, the US and Australia. According to the study, the Southern Ocean had “regained its expected strength”. The study has been published in Science.

Its gigantic carbon absorption is on account of its pattern of seawater circulation, which takes carbon from the surface to deep underwater.

According to a co-author, Bronte Tilbrook, who is a research scientist at CSIRO and the Antarctic and Climate Systems CRC, the confirmation of decreasing efficiency of the sink was an alarm, for the reason that it indicates that carbon dioxide amasses more profoundly in the atmosphere.

Tilbrook added, “That sink has now re-established itself due to a change in weather patterns around an Antarctica. Long term, we don’t know how the sink will respond but we are getting an idea that its variability is much greater than we previously thought”. As per Tilbrook, there is a possibility that it may reduce again.