Ocean's Carbon Sink Ability Weakened

I found the following article Ocean Less Effective At Absorbing Carbon Dioxide Emitted By Human Activity which I thought was very interesting because it relates with the article we had to read for tomorrow. In the Southern Indian Ocean, CO2 is being brought up from the ocean depths to the surface due to mixing of waters caused by stronger winds as a result of climate change. In the last ten years, both in the northern and southern hemispheres, an increase in atmospheric CO2 content, climate warming has been observed due to a weakening of oceanic carbon sinks. Southern Ocean’s role as a 'carbon sink' has been weakened, it can no longer absorb as much atmospheric CO2 as before, and as studies show it may now be ten times less efficient than previously estimated. In North Atlantic similar results were observed where the CO2 sink diminished by 50% between 1996 and 2005.
Nicolas Metzl and his team at IPSL's LOCEAN laboratory have discovered that the increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is the result of human activity (use of fossil fuels and deforestation). This conclusion was based on data collected by the OISO Indian Ocean observation service, which was set up ten years ago. Previous data collected during 1991-1995 and data collected recently show that the quantity of CO2 is increasing faster in surface waters than in the atmosphere. The difference of CO2 content in the atmosphere which still remains higher than that in surface waters is decreasing. The leader of the OISO program, Nicolas Metzl, states that “the increase is the result of climate change at high latitudes, leading to an increase in the relative difference of atmospheric pressure at latitudes between 40 and 60°S, and therefore to higher wind speeds, leading in turn to increased ocean mixing, with surface waters mixing with deep waters”. To find out just how far this can go and what will the consequences be for the future climate more research is needed.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090216092937.htm