text: The 2015 paper by Jónasdóttir et al., marked the first comprehensive accounting for the amount of carbon sequestration resulting from the movement of lipids by vertically migrating zooplankton during their overwintering diapuse. Although only elucidating the impact of one particular species, in this case, C. finmarchicus, both the magnitude of carbon flux and widespread global distribution of Calanus spp. suggest the possible importance of the lipid pump in global carbon cycling by contributing an estimated 50–100% of carbon sequestration to the biological pump. Subsequent research has underscored this significance as estimates that attempt to more accurately account for the mortality and respiration rates of other overwintering Calanus spp. have suggested similar, although regionally variable, magnitudes of carbon export from the lipid pump. Overwintering diapause is an ecological strategy to enable Calanus spp. to adapt to the seasonal variability in food availability in ocean basins. Changes in the timing or length of high food periods are likely to negatively impact the distribution and abundance of Calanus spp. Changes in ocean temperature and salinity due to anthropogenic climate change are also predicted to decrease concentrations of Calanus spp. in some ocean basins. In addition to potential ecosystem impacts due to the large number of species that rely on copepods as a major constituent of their diets, there may be implications for oceanic carbon sequestration from consequent changes in the magnitude of the lipid pump due to overwintering zooplankton.