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Updated: Jan 28, 2026
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Low-pressure storms drive nitrous oxide emissions in the Southern Ocean
Colette L Kelly1, Bonnie X Chang2, Andrea F Emmanuelli3,4
1Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA. colette.kelly@whoi.edu.
Nature Communications
|January 26, 2026
Summary
Marine emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, are hard to measure. New machine learning methods reveal Southern Ocean storms significantly increase these emissions, impacting the global greenhouse gas budget.
Area of Science:
- Oceanography
- Atmospheric Chemistry
- Climate Science
Background:
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a significant greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance.
- Marine N2O emissions are difficult to quantify due to high spatiotemporal variability.
- The Southern Ocean is a key region for air-sea gas exchange, influenced by cyclonic storms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify nitrous oxide emissions from the Southern Ocean, considering the impact of storms.
- To improve estimates of the ocean's role in the global N2O budget.
- To utilize novel data sources for marine biogeochemical research.
Main Methods:
- Machine learning algorithms were applied to biogeochemical Argo float data.
- N2O concentrations and air-sea gradients were derived from float observations.
- The influence of low-pressure storm systems on N2O flux was analyzed.
Main Results:
- Machine learning successfully derived N2O observations from Argo floats.
- Low-pressure storms were identified as hotspots for N2O emissions.
- Accounting for storms increased the estimated annual Southern Ocean N2O flux by 88%.
Conclusions:
- The Southern Ocean's contribution to global N2O emissions is larger than previously estimated.
- Storms significantly enhance air-sea N2O gradients and emissions.
- The Southern Ocean may be a weaker sink for greenhouse gases than previously assumed.
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