Scientific outcomes and future challenges of the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program

Abstract

The ocean plays a major role in shaping Earth's climate, regulating levels of key atmospheric trace gases such as carbon dioxide on time scales of decades to millennia. Much progress has been made in understanding the global carbon cycle; quantifying major carbon sources, sinks, and transport pathways; and tracking the fate of anthropogenic carbon released from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation. However, many key questions remain regarding the magnitude and evolution of ocean uptake of anthropogenic carbon and the likely biogeochemical and ecosystem responses and feedbacks to future changes in ocean chemistry and climate.