Tucson Standard

June marks National Ocean Month, a time to celebrate the oceans that cover more than 70% of Earth's surface and play a crucial role in regulating climate, supporting diverse marine life, and sustaining human livelihoods.

University Distinguished Professor Joellen Russell, head of the University of Arizona Department of Geosciences, is a renowned oceanographer and climate scientist. Her research utilizes robot floats, satellites, and supercomputers to observe and predict the ocean's role in past, present, and future climates. She is one of four guest speakers invited to share their expertise at the U.S. National Science Foundation's sixth annual Frontiers in Ocean Sciences Symposium on June 24.

During the virtual symposium, Russell will discuss the role of oceans in absorbing heat and carbon and the impacts of human-caused warming on oceans. In advance of her presentation, Russell spoke with University of Arizona News about her work and why desert dwellers should care about oceanic activities.

"It's critical to Arizona because the ocean affects the heat waves going on here right now," Russell said. "The westerlies and the jet stream are banging away way up in British Columbia and northern Montana and not coming anywhere near us, which means that we've seen no signs of our monsoon ramping up yet. The winds affect how much heat and carbon our oceans take up. Currently, about 93% of the anthropogenic related warming from the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases we emit is going into the ocean, while less than 3% is accumulating in the atmosphere."

Russell also highlighted her projects related to ocean heat and carbon uptake: "More than 75% of all of the ocean's uptake of heat is happening in and around Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. This year marks the 10th anniversary of our Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling project (SOCCOM), where I am the lead of the modeling group. The aim is to understand and predict how the Southern Ocean will respond to continued greenhouse forcing."

She added that "about 50% of the carbon taken up by the ocean is going in around Antarctica." Discussing a new project with New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmosphere Research, she mentioned collaborating with Sarah Mikaloff-Fletcher from CarbonWatch New Zealand: "New Zealand is still the only country fully monitoring its impact on atmospheric carbon."

Russell explained that SOCCOM has deployed almost 300 robotic floats over ten years: "These specialized autonomous devices help scientists understand how carbon moves through oceans." She noted significant findings regarding New Zealand’s waters taking up large amounts of carbon.

Reflecting on future prospects for ocean science, Russell emphasized using advanced technologies: "We are using robot floats, supercomputers, and satellites to make better forecasts for future climate scenarios for all humans on Earth. We need better accounting for each nation’s carbon budget as Earth is predominantly covered by oceans."

Russell concluded by expressing enthusiasm about pioneering this field: "Now that we've deployed our floats combined with ship data and satellite observations, we can see entire ocean systems—an extraordinary advantage as we manage our carbon waste."