Penn Earth and Environmental Science Professor Finds Indications of Climate Change in Southern Ocean

To investigate the interplay between climate change and the ocean, Irina Marinov, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, has found it necessary to straddle disciplines.

Marinov, who studied physics as an undergraduate before earning her doctorate in atmosphere and ocean sciences, exemplifies an interdisciplinary approach. Her research into the Southern Ocean, the waters that encircle Antarctica, integrates analyses of the physics and chemistry of oceans and atmosphere with studies of the biological components that play a role in the global carbon cycle.

Though sometimes overlooked by scientists, the Southern Ocean below the 30th parallel takes up more than 60 percent of the anthropogenic heat produced on Earth and 40 to 50 percent of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide penetrating into the oceans. The Southern Ocean is emerging as very important for regulating climate.

Writing in Nature Climate Change earlier this year, Marinov and colleagues attempted to explain why the Antarctic Bottom Waters, the ocean’s deepest current, has been shrinking in recent decades. Because the current “hides” heat and carbon from the atmosphere, climate scientists have feared that its slow-down could have repercussions for global warming. These changes have occurred, Marinov explains, because increased precipitation around Antarctica—a consequence of climate change—has made the ocean surface waters fresher, and thus less dense. These lighter waters are less prone to move down through the water column and mix with deeper waters.

Read the full story here.

Arts & Sciences News

Azuma and Hart Named Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professors of American History

Eiichiro Azuma specializes in Asian American and transpacific history, while Emma Hart teaches and researches the history of early North America, the Atlantic World, and early modern Britain between 1500 and 1800.

View Article >
Arts & Sciences Students Honored during 37th Annual Women of Color Day

Sade Taiwo, C’25, and Kyndall Nicholas, a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience, were honored for their work.

View Article >
Nine College Students and Alums Named Thouron Scholars; Will Pursue Graduate Studies in the U.K.

The Scholars are six seniors and three recent graduates whose majors range from neuroscience to communication.

View Article >
Irma Elo Named Tamsen and Michael Brown Presidential Professor in Sociology

Elo’s main research interests center on inequalities in health and mortality across the life course and demographic estimation of mortality. In recent years, she has extended her research to include predictors of cognition in high-, middle-, and low-income countries.

View Article >
Julia Hartmann Named Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor in Mathematics

She specializes in algebra and arithmetic geometry, a newer field that applies techniques from algebraic geometry to solve problems in number theory and co-developed the method of field patching.

View Article >
Holger Sieg Named Baird Term Professor of Economics

Sieg focuses his research on public and urban economics, as well as the political economy of state and local governments.

View Article >