southern Ocean

1 year ago
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The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, is the southernmost ocean on Earth.
It surrounds Antarctica and extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude.
The Southern Ocean is the youngest of the world's major oceans. It formed about 30 million years ago when Antarctica split away from Australia and South America.
The Southern Ocean is the primary storage of heat and carbon for the planet. It's estimated to store:
75% of the global oceanic uptake of excess heat
35% of the global uptake of excess carbon from the atmosphere
The Southern Ocean connects all major ocean basins, except the Arctic. It's not a formal geographic region in the sense of the Pacific.
The Southern Ocean has a surface area of 2,03,30,000 km². It's been warming for decades, but the annual extent of winter sea ice has seemed relatively stable compared to the Arctic.

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