A new study has revealed that the Southern Ocean releases far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the winter than previously estimated, with seasonal emissions potentially underestimated by as much as 40 percent.

The study was led by researchers from the Ministry of Natural Resources' Second Institute of Oceanography and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology (NIGLAS), and its results were published in the latest issue of Science Advances.

The Southern Ocean -- also referred to as the Antarctic Ocean -- encircles Antarctica and connects the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

According to the study, the Southern Ocean plays a critical role in Earth's carbon cycle. However, it is also the largest source of uncertainty in global estimates

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