A scientist from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) has been appointed to a US research body on climate change.

Dr. Nick Bates, senior research scientist and associate director for the Institute, is to use his expertise in the US Carbon Cycle Science Program. He has been studying the way in which carbon is absorbed and used by the ocean for more than a decade.

The project's scientists are starting to reveal and quantify some of the intricate complexities and interactions between the Earth's carbon reservoirs and climate.

It attempts to clarify the mechanisms involved between humans, fossil fuel emissions, land use and climate.

Dr. Bates, whose expertise is in Chemical Oceanography and Marine Biogeochemistry, has been appointed to the program's Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group (CCSSG) on a three-year tenure. His first meetings will be in Washington, DC.

Dr. James Yoder of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, CCSSG chairman, said: "The carbon cycle is an essential element in climate and climate change. Our understanding of the carbon cycle is increasing rapidly, but it is far from complete.

"There remains a need to reduce uncertainties in it to address, with greater accuracy and timeliness, questions about climate change at regional and global scales.

"The CCSSG has several roles including facilitating communications among the CCIWG, the carbon cycle science communities, the public and decision makers.

"It provides a forum for presentation of new ideas and research results in carbon cycle science, and it brings important scientific questions to the attention of the research management agencies in the CCIWG."

Dr. Bates is considered an authority in the field of biogeochemical cycling of carbon.

BIOS is well suited for the type of research Dr. Bates conducts because it provides a representative picture of the North Atlantic sub-tropical gyre (circulation).

As Bermuda sits near the centre of this, the research station provides crucial information about changes within it.

This, together with BIOS' Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series (BATS) data — the longest time-series of ocean CO2 and records of ocean acidification — makes him an important addition to the committee.

Dr. Tony Knap, BIOS president and director, said: "We believe Dr. Bates's perspective will greatly enrich the work of the CCSSG and will in turn also enrich BIOS's role as a global authority on the importance of the ocean in the cycling and storage of atmospheric-derived CO2 to the planet."