SOCAT annual update for 2024 released
The release of this year’s Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCATv2024) on June 19th revealed that the number of oceanic measurements of the climate change-driving greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), has continued to decrease, following a downward trend since 2018. The number of observations submitted to this annual update is as low as the more limited observing efforts from a decade ago, as seen in the graph below. The lack of data is especially evident in the subtropical and tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere (south of 20°N latitude) and across the entire Southern Hemisphere.
The number of highly accurate (<5 µatm) surface ocean fCO2 (fugacity of CO2) values each year. Colors represent which version of SOCAT each measurement was released with.
The large geographical gaps in ocean carbon observations reduces the accuracy of climate assessments that use SOCAT data, such as the Global Carbon Budget. The annual release of the SOCAT data product is crucial to quantifying ocean CO2 uptake – a critical ecosystem service that naturally removes ~25% of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere, offsetting the impacts of climate change caused by human-produced greenhouse gases. This absorption of CO2 by the ocean means that relatively less carbon ends up in the atmosphere, reducing the greenhouse gas “blanket” that surrounds and warms the planet. While this ability of the ocean to act like a carbon-absorbing sponge is critical, it still has negative consequences, like ocean acidification, which can impact marine life and the people who depend on it.
“Without SOCAT, quantifying how much CO2 the ocean uptakes would not be possible. It has been instrumental in developing tools to assess that uptake for the scientific community around the world who are invested in ocean carbon and climate science” remarked Dr. Denis Pierrot, a NOAA Oceanographer and member of the SOCAT global group. For instance, these estimates are important to global stakeholders, including WMO’s Global Greenhouse Gas Watch and the UNFCCC Global Stocktake, who use these estimates to calculate the Global Carbon Budget and to assess progress towards achieving the long-term goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. SOCAT is also endorsed by the UNESCO-IOC/SCOR International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP), the Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS), the Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBeR), and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).
An international effort to collect data
SOCAT is an open access community-led international synthesis of surface ocean CO2 measurements collected from ships, moorings, and autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) across the global ocean. Over 100 members of the international ocean carbon community contribute data to SOCAT, including NOAA Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program (GOMO) supported scientists.
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NOAA, 9 September 2024. Full article.
