Hot Topics in Climate #3: Decadal variability of the ocean carbon sink: Fact of fiction?

Within the IMAU colloquium series a special series is embedded called “Hot Topics in Climate”. This year the series will be devoted to the carbon cycle and geo-engineering. 

In this series we start with a ca 15-minute introduction by an international expert on the topic, which can be a bit provocative emphasizing points where scientists still disagree, or where the science is still controversial, followed by 45 minutes of open discussion.

Together with Jorge Sarmiento from Princeton University, Dr. Nicolas Gruber is author of the textbook "Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics" that has become a standard in the field. He is a.o. member of the governing board of Climate-​KIC, and his research focus is on the potential feedbacks between the global carbon cycle and a changing climate. The Southern Ocean carbon sink has his special interest, in particular whether it might reduce in efficiency under global warming, requiring more stringent strategies to stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide and global mean temperature. The title of one of his most cited papers nicely summarizes his main scientific interest with:  Warming up, turning sour, losing breath: ocean biogeochemistry under global change.