Deep Ocean Currents have been well documented in the World’s Oceans ((Heezen, Hollister and Ruddiman, 1966; Hollister, 1967; Pequegnat et al. 1972; Shepard et al. 1979; Shanmugam, 2016, 2017, 2021). Although there are claims of impact of CO2 on deep ocean currents, there are no published empirical data on measurements of CO2 from specific Deep Ocean Currents, such as 1) Thermohaline Contour Currents, 2) Wind-Driven Bottom Currents, 3) Tidal Bottom Currents, and 4) Baroclinic Currents.
Note this disconnect between the climate narrative on CO2 and the absence of empirical data on the concentration of measured CO2 in Ocean Currents.
The Keeling Curve (Fig. 1A) is the gold standard of measurements of atmospheric CO2. In the atmosphere, CO2 is measured as ppm (parts per million). By contrast, CO2 is measured as fugacity in the Oceans. The release of Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (Mkitarian, 2024) on June 19th, 2024 revealed that the number of oceanic measurements of the climate change-driving CO2, has continued to decrease, following a downward trend since 2018. The number of observations submitted to this annual update is as low as the more limited observing efforts from a decade ago. It must be noted that the atmospheric 1 ppm CO₂ is a mixing ratio (a concentration) while the oceanic 1x106 fCO₂ refers to the effective pressure a real gas exerts when accounting for non‑ideal behavior. They measure fundamentally different things. Furthermore, these fugacity of CO2 values do not refer to CO2 in specific type of Ocean Currents.
The thermohaline circulation is central to why the deep ocean is Earth’s largest long—term carbon reservoir. Cold, dense waters at high latitudes sink and carry dissolved gases—including CO₂ and O₂—into the abyss, where they remain isolated from the atmosphere for centuries to millennia. This slow overturning effectively stores atmospheric carbon in the deep ocean. There are published articles that discuss “Shifting winter atmospheric teleconnections to the North Pacific…” (Anderson et al., 2026). Their study shows how freshwater influx into the North Atlantic—a process intensified under CO₂‑driven warming—weakens the Gulf Stream and broader Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). It also demonstrates how these circulation changes propagate climate effects as far as Alaska through teleconnections. However, there are no quantitative studies on the impact of CO2 on the behavior of Ocean Currents.
Bauer (2019) in an article entitled Climate Change is weakening the Ocean’s Currents. Here’s Why that Matters states that “Likewise, in modern-day oceans, the thermohaline circulation mixes dissolved gases (such as CO2 and O) into the deep ocean. This means that the oceans are able to draw down and store more CO2 from the atmosphere. The deep ocean is the largest reservoir (or storage) for CO2 on Earth. If circulation slows due to warming waters, the churning of the CO2 will slow, which will keep more CO2 in our surface waters and atmosphere. This can lead to increasing ocean acidification, which is very harmful to marine life.”
Mkitarian (2024) notes that: “The annual release of the SOCAT data product is crucial to quantifying ocean CO2 uptake – a critical ecosystem service that naturally removes ~25% of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere, offsetting the impacts of climate change caused by human-produced greenhouse gases. This absorption of CO2 by the ocean means that relatively less carbon ends up in the atmosphere, reducing the greenhouse gas “blanket” that surrounds and warms the planet. While this ability of the ocean to act like a carbon-absorbing sponge is critical, it still has negative consequences, like ocean acidification, which can impact marine life and the people who depend on it.”
According to NOAA (2026), the ocean absorbs about 30% of the CO2 that is released in the atmosphere. As levels of atmospheric CO2 increase from human activity such as burning fossil fuels (e.g., car emissions) and changing land use (e.g., deforestation), the amount of CO2 absorbed by the ocean also increases. When CO2 is absorbed by seawater, a series of chemical reactions occur resulting in the increased concentration of hydrogen ions. This process has far reaching implications for the ocean and the creatures that live there. But there are no studies of how ocean acidification affects Ocean Currents.
In an oceanographic context, global circulation of water masses were discussed by Talley (2013). In a comprehensive review, Shanmugam (2008) identified 4 types of bottom currents in the world’s Oceans: CONTINUED...
