Arctic Oceanic Carbon Cycle: A Comprehensive Review of Mechanisms, Regulations, and Models

Abstract

Understanding the oceanic carbon cycle, particularly in the Arctic regions, is crucial for addressing climate change. However, significant research gaps persist, especially regarding climate effects on the oceanic carbon cycle in these regions. This review systematically explores Arctic-related research, focusing on mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, and modelling approaches in the oceanic carbon cycle, carbon sink, climate change impact, and maritime shipping. The findings highlight the Arctic’s limited observer presence and high operational costs, hindering the data availability and studies on carbon-cycle changes. This underscores the need to integrate real-time Arctic Ocean monitoring data. Carbon sink research urgently requires direct methods to measure anthropogenic carbon uptake and address uncertainties in air–ocean carbon fluxes due to sea ice melting. Unlike terrestrial carbon cycling research, carbon-cycle studies in the oceans, which are essential for absorbing anthropogenic emissions, receive insufficient attention, especially in the Arctic regions. Numerous policies often fall short in achieving effective mitigation, frequently depending on voluntary or market-based approaches. Analyzing carbon-cycle and sink models has uncovered limitations, primarily due to their global perspective, hampering in-depth assessments of climate change effects on the Arctic regions. To pave the way for future research, enhancing Arctic Ocean climate data availability is recommended, as well as fostering international cooperation in carbon-cycle research, enforcing carbon policies, and improving regional modelling in the Arctic Ocean.