Physical pump (thermosaline circulation)

• Global conveyor belt

  • Moves carbon compounds to different parts of the ocean in downwelling and upwelling currents
  • Downwelling occurs in parts of the ocean where cold, denser water sinks.
  • These currents bring dissolved CO2 down to the deep ocean
  • Once there, it moves in slow-moving deep ocean currents, staying there for hundreds of years
  • Eventually, these deep ocean currents return to the surface by upwelling
  • The cold deep ocean water warms as it rises towards the ocean surface and some of the dissolved CO2 is released back into the atmosphere
• Climate change


  Climate change and rising temperatures may slow down the process even more and bring extreme temperatures to different regions across the world.