Episode 903: The Fate of Carbon

For millennia, the exchange of CO₂ between the oceans and atmosphere has been in balance. Two distinct processes, known in the scientific community as the solubility pump and the biological pump, transport carbon from surface waters down to the depths, where it can stay for thousands of years before returning to the surface and re-entering the atmosphere as CO₂. Now, with more anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the oceans are taking up more CO₂ as well. This additional CO₂ is negatively impacting sensitive ecosystems through a process called ocean acidification, and scientists worry how changes to the ocean environment will affect the way carbon is cycled through the seas.

Image Credits:

Changing Seas would like to thank the following individuals and institutions who kindly allowed their footage, images and other media to be used in this production:

Amy Maas
Kelvin Santana Rodriguez
Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences

Bermuda Tourism Authority

Liza Roger
Kakani Katija
Katharine Wurtzell
Alexander Bergan
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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International Space Station Activities
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NASA

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