National Geographic Officially Recognizes Antarctic Southern Ocean
Just in time for World Ocean Day on June 8, National Geographic cartographers declared the oceanic ring around Antarctica the world’s fifth ocean.
Dubbed the Southern Ocean, the body of water’s recognition by National Geographic aims to promote conservation and awareness to the fragile ecosystem where thousands of marine species like whales, seals, and penguins live, reports Sarah Gibbens for National Geographic.
The National Geographic Society has been making maps for over a century. Since the 1970s, they have had geographers oversee all modifications to every published map, reports the National Geographic. The decision to officially recognize the Southern Ocean came about after years of observing scientists and news sources using the term the Southern Ocean to describe waters near Antarctica, reports National Geographic.
“We’ve always labeled it, but we labeled it slightly differently [than other oceans],” Alex Tait, a National Geographic Society Geographer, tells National Geographic. “This change was taking the last step and saying we want to recognize it because of its ecological separation.”
The Southern Ocean is defined by a swift undertow called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) that flows from west to east around Antarctica, reports Andrew Chamings for SFGate. The current extends out to 60 degrees south latitude and appeared about 34 million years ago when Antarctica separated from South America, per National Geographic.
The oceanic ring acts as an invisible wall that encloses Antarctica in freezing, less salty waters than northern waters. This separation makes the continent and the Southern Ocean ecologically distinct, hosting countless diverse organisms.
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names, a federal program designed in 1890 to set in place uniform geographic name usage, already recognized the arctic waters, already recognizes the Southern Ocean, reports Adam Gabbat for the Guardian. Soon after, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recognized the body of water as the fifth ocean in 1999 after the Board of Geographic Names approved the title, “Southern Ocean,” reports Paulina Firozi for the Washington Post.
“The Southern Ocean has long been recognized by scientists, but because there was never agreement internationally, we never officially recognized it,” Tait tells the National Geographic.
However, the Southern Ocean is still are not recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). This intergovernmental organization tracks and charts global seas and oceans. The boundaries of the Southern Ocean were proposed to the IHO in 2000, but not all IHO member countries were in agreement, the Washington Post reports. Still, Tait says it was crucial to recognize the water surrounding Antarctica.
“We think it’s really important from an educational standpoint, as well as from a map-labeling standpoint, to bring attention to the Southern Ocean as a fifth ocean,” Tait explained to the Washington Post. “So when students learn about parts of the ocean world, they learn it’s an interconnected ocean, and they learn there’s these regions called oceans that are really important, and there’s a distinct one in the icy waters around Antarctica.”
The Southern Ocean has a substantial effect on Earth’s climate. The current pulls waters from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, which drives a circulation system known as the global ocean conveyor belt that transports heat around the planet, reports National Geographic.
See more here: smithsonianmag.com
Header image: Commormah via Wikicommons
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Robert Beatty
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A major importance of the Southern Ocean definition is its close association with the atmosphere. This occurs because the over 3000m high central Antarctic plateau allows cold air to collect before it tumbles down the sides. This forms a strong series of katabatic wind storms which race out across the Southern Ocean presenting large quantities of air to the cold sea surface. CO2 contained in the air stream dissolves into the cold ocean before the air circulates back high into the atmosphere. The record of this high altitude change to the CO2 content is recorded (Keeling Curve) at the NOAA Hawaii recording station, which gives a good simulation of the world CO2 annual variations. The graph records are noticeable for the annual low points consistent with the souther winter, and the high points matching Southern Ocean summer sea temperature increases.
The critical conclusion here is that the atmospheric CO2 level is solely dependant on the average global sea surface temperature, and therefore not of human influence or control.
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