KEYNOTE PERSPECTIVE. Anthropogenic CO2 uptake in a warming ocean

Sarmiento, J. L.; Hughes, Tertia M. C.

doi:10.1034/j.1600-0889.1999.00030.x

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Coupled ocean‐atmosphere model results suggest that a future increase in ocean temperatures and stratification will alter chlorophyll and export production [ Sarmiento and Hughes , 1999; Bopp et al , 2001]. Increases in export production in the subpolar region [ Bopp et al , 2001] and decreases in the subtropical region are anticipated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO₂ flux variability in the North Atlantic?

Bennington

McKinley

Dutkiewicz

et al. 2009

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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[1] The importance of biology to the ocean carbon sink is often quantified in terms of export, the removal of carbon from the ocean surface layer. Satellite images of sea surface chlorophyll indicate variability in biological production, but how these variations affect export and air-sea carbon fluxes is poorly understood. We investigate this in the North Atlantic using an ocean general circulation model coupled to a medium-complexity ecosystem model. We find that biological CO 2 drawdown is significant on the mean and dominates the seasonal cycle of pCO 2 , but variations in the annual air-sea CO 2 flux and export are not significantly correlated. Large year-to-year variability in summertime pCO 2 occurs, because of changing bloom timing, but integrated bloom strength and associated carbon uptake and export do not vary substantially. The model indicates that small biological variability, quantitatively consistent with SeaWiFS (1998SeaWiFS ( -2006, is not sufficient to be a first-order control on annual subpolar air-sea CO 2 flux variability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO₂ flux variability in the North Atlantic?

Bennington

McKinley

Dutkiewicz

et al. 2009

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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“…For those involved in measuring the changes in atmospheric composition the clear scientific challenge is one of providing verification of the effectiveness of the international actions to limit the growth of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, while at the same time detecting feedbacks between climate change and biogeochemistry where the effects are to reduce carbon storage and thus accelerate climate change [5,6,7,8]. Each of these influences should show up as small, sustained regional signals against a background of the larger scale variability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide—the calibration challenge

Francey

Steele

2003

Accred Qual Assur

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The measurement of CO 2 in the atmosphere presents a significant metrology and quality assurance challenge. While global trends can be well determined with just a few sampling sites, the plethora of natural processes involved in exchange of CO 2 with the atmosphere makes the identification of those most effective in regulating the long-term atmospheric levels elusive. To unambiguously link particular processes with significant global trends requires continuous monitoring of small spatial and temporal differences in the atmospheric mixing ratio of CO 2 (and related tracers) over the major global CO 2 -exchanging regions. Such differences are often comparable in magnitude to the precision of conventional non-dispersive infrared or gas chromatograph analysers, and much smaller than the uncertainty in the link to a primary standard. In general, laboratories cannot currently merge data at high precision and thus achieve adequate global coverage. We describe an improvement in precision (and operating cost) of the conventional infrared analyser technique. Apart from immediate biogeochemical applications, the new system has demonstrated outstanding diagnostic capabilities and revealed a number of unsuspected sources of bias affecting conventional measurement and calibration methods. In addressing these biases, opportunities are created to improve the link between CO 2 measurement and fundamental constants, and to improve the propagation of CO 2 standards to field measurement systems.

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Ocean dynamics determine the response of oceanic CO2 uptake to climate change

et al. 2007

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The increase of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations due to anthropogenic activities is substantially damped by the ocean, whose CO 2 uptake is determined by the state of the ocean, which in turn is influenced by climate change. We investigate the mechanisms of the ocean's carbon uptake within the feedback loop of atmospheric CO 2 concentration, climate change and atmosphere/ocean CO 2 flux. We evaluate two transient simulations from 1860 until 2100, performed with a version of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) with the carbon cycle included. In both experiments observed anthropogenic CO 2 emissions were prescribed until 2000, followed by the emissions according to the IPCC Scenario A2. In one simulation the radiative forcing of changing atmospheric CO 2 is taken into account (coupled), in the other it is suppressed (uncoupled). In both simulations, the oceanic carbon uptake increases from 1 GT C/year in 1960 to 4.5 GT C/year in 2070. Afterwards, this trend weakens in the coupled simulation, leading to a reduced uptake rate of 10% in 2100 compared to the uncoupled simulation. This includes a partial offset due to higher atmospheric CO 2 concentrations in the coupled simulation owing to reduced carbon uptake by the terrestrial biosphere. The difference of the oceanic carbon uptake between both simulations is primarily due to partial pressure difference and secondary to solubility changes. These contributions are widely offset by changes of gas transfer velocity due to sea ice melting and wind changes. The major differences appear in the Southern Ocean (-45%) and in the North Atlantic (-30%), related to reduced vertical mixing and North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, respectively. In the polar areas, sea ice melting induces additional CO 2 uptake (+20%).

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KEYNOTE PERSPECTIVE. Anthropogenic CO2 uptake in a warming ocean

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO₂ flux variability in the North Atlantic?

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO₂ flux variability in the North Atlantic?

Measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide—the calibration challenge

Ocean dynamics determine the response of oceanic CO2 uptake to climate change

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KEYNOTE PERSPECTIVE. Anthropogenic CO2 uptake in a warming ocean

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO2 flux variability in the North Atlantic?

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO2 flux variability in the North Atlantic?

Measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide—the calibration challenge

Ocean dynamics determine the response of oceanic CO2 uptake to climate change

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO₂ flux variability in the North Atlantic?

What does chlorophyll variability tell us about export and air‐sea CO₂ flux variability in the North Atlantic?