We are excited to share that the Integrated Ocean Carbon Research (IOC‑R) Report has been published by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The report is the result of a global community effort and was developed by 72 authors from 23 countries, including contributions from IOCCP SSG members: Galen McKinley, Richard Sanders, Maciej Telszewski, and Adrienne Sutton. We would like to take this opportunity to express our huge gratitude to Christopher L. Sabine for co-leading the IOC-R programme on behalf of IOCCP since 2018.
The report highlights critical uncertainties in how much carbon the ocean absorbs, with model differences of 10-20% at global scale, and outlines priority areas for international scientific collaboration.
The IOC-R community has defined five focus areas for ocean carbon research:
- Evolution of the ocean carbon sink under a changing climate,
- The changing role of biology in the ocean carbon cycle
- Carbon exchanges across the land-ocean-ice continuum
- The impact of ocean industrial processes on the ocean bio logical carbon cycle
- Future changes in the carbon cycle from deliberate ocean-based climate interventions.
To close the knowledge gaps identified within each focus area, a series of internationally coordinated approaches are required:
- Support for sustained ocean carbon observing systems,
- Integration of sensor technologies and platforms,
- Enhancement and co-ordination of carbon observing and synthesis products,
- Next level biological process studies and experiments, and
- Improved ocean carbon cycle models.
Strengthening global ocean carbon science is essential for effective climate action.