A new study finds that rain may boost the ocean's carbon uptake by 13.6%, a finding that suggests global carbon budgets may be underestimating how much CO2 the ocean absorbs.
The team used a model called RIM-3 to compare rainfall and wind-driven exchange with wind alone. It estimated that rain increases global ocean carbon uptake by 13.6% compared with calculations based on wind-driven exchange alone, with dilution from rain accounting for most of the increase, about 8%, and wet deposition adding 3.8%.