海洋中储存的碳可能比早期研究中估计的要多

The ocean’s capacity to store atmospheric carbon dioxide is some 20% greater than the estimates contained in the latest IPCC report. These are the findings of a study published in the journal Nature on December 6， 2023， led by an international team including a biologist from the CNRS. The scientists looked at the role played by plankton（浮游生物） in the natural transport of carbon from surface waters down to the seabed.

Plankton swallow up carbon dioxide and， as they grow， convert it into organic tissue via photosynthesis（光合作用）. When they die， part of the plankton is transformed into particles known as “marine snow”. Being denser than seawater， these particles sink down to the seabed thus storing carbon there and providing essential nutrients for a wide range of deep-sea organisms， from tiny bacteria to deep-sea fish.

By analyzing a bank of data collected from around the world by oceanographic ships since the 1970s， the team of seven scientists were able to digitally map numbers of organic matter throughout the world’s oceans. The resulting new estimate of carbon storage capacity is 15 gigatonnes per year， an increase of around 20% compared with previous studies （11 gigatonnes per year） published by the IPCC in its 2021 report.

This reassessment of the ocean’s storage capacity represents a significant advance in our understanding of carbon exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean at the global level. While the team stresses that this absorption process takes place over tens of thousands of years， and is therefore not sufficient to offset the faster and faster increase in CO2 emissions caused by worldwide industrial activity since 1750， the study nonetheless highlights the importance of the ocean ecosystem as a major player in the long-term regulation of the global climate.

（材料来自Science Daily网站，有删改）

1. Why is the latest IPCC report mentioned in Paragraph 1？

A. To list an example.

B. To make a comparison.

C. To illustrate the concept.

D. To clarify the phenomenon.

2. What can we learn from the scientists？

A. Plankton supplies deep-sea fish with lots of nutrition.

B. The ocean’s carbon storage capacity has increased rapidly.

C. Dead plankton is changed into organic tissue via photosynthesis.

D. The ocean may be storing more carbon than estimated earlier.

3. What does the word “offset” underlined in Paragraph 4 probably mean？