# A new international research project is using uncrewed vessels to study carbon dioxide in the Southern Ocean. The COCO2 project brings together researchers from South Africa, Australia and the United States. Four wind-powered Saildrone vessels will travel more than 22-thousand kilometres each, gathering winter data around Antarctica. Researchers say the Southern Ocean absorbs about 40-percent of the global ocean’s carbon dioxide uptake, and 75-percent of heat from excess atmospheric carbon dioxide. Researchers say this helps to address a major climate data gap.
South Africa joins international southern ocean carbon research