Observing a Vulnerable Carbon Cycle

Raupach, Michael; Canadell, J. G.

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-76570-9_2

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…Because of the sensitivity of the global economy and population patterns to climate change and the need for sustainability of key ecosystems an improved understanding of the changing marine carbon cycle has impact for stakeholders far beyond science itself, and reaches into the societal and economic realms [18] and [19]. Carbon is emerging as an important currency in determining the efficiency of economies and the value of goods and services of national and regional economies [19].…”

Section: The Importance Of Sea Surface Carbon Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Global Sea Surface Carbon Observing System: Assessment of Changing Sea Surface CO2 and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes

Monteiro¹,

Schuster²,

Hood³

et al. 2010

Proceedings of OceanObs'09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society

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SUMMARYThis paper identifies the important advances of the past decade that have delivered high precision pCO 2 observations from ships of opportunity (SOOP), robust decadal climatologies of air-sea CO 2 fluxes, and uniform data through coordinated quality control and inter comparisons activities, along with standardized instrumentation and procedures. The vision for the coming decade is to build on these successes to deliver an annual assessment and understanding of the regional and global trends in CO 2 exchanges between the ocean and the atmosphere. The core challenges are the maintenance and expansion of the sampling scales and the development of robust high precision in situ sensors.Highest priorities for the next 10 years for a global sea surface carbon observing system are: to deliver seasonally unbiased annual assessments of the regional and global trends in oceanatmosphere carbon fluxes. These should comprise monthly global flux maps that are used as constraints for atmospheric inversions in order to improve the assessment of the global carbon budget, including the terrestrial component. This will form an important link between the ocean CO 2 community and the global carbon budget assessment activities of the Global Carbon project (GCP) and its inputs to the periodic IPCC assessments. In order to achieve this, the following are necessary: to implement an effective and integrated multiplatform pCO 2 observing network that will reduce uncertainty in regional and global CO 2 flux estimates to ± 10 -15% of the annual mean flux; to advance sensor and instrument development, allowing the density of global surface ocean carbon observing networks to be increased by deployment on additional key SOOP lines, moorings, Lagrangian platforms, gliders and profiling floats. to understand and resolve the biogeochemical and physical mechanisms driving surface carbon, natural and anthropogenic CO 2 air-sea flux variability and long term trend sand a link to ocean acidification by incorporating a robust set of ancillary observations; to strengthen the capabilities of coupled climatecarbon models to forecast changes in the ocean uptake of CO 2 and the effectiveness of CO 2 emission mitigation strategies

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Section: The Importance Of Sea Surface Carbon Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Carbon is emerging as an important currency in determining the efficiency of economies and the value of goods and services of national and regional economies [19].…”

Section: The Importance Of Sea Surface Carbon Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Sea Surface Carbon Observing System: Assessment of Changing Sea Surface CO2 and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes

Monteiro¹,

Schuster²,

Hood³

et al. 2010

Proceedings of OceanObs'09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society

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“…, extrapolating from measurements made at a single site in Alaska, suggested 0.8-1.1 Pg C yr −1 could be lost if permafrost thaws. Raupach and Canadell (2008) …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainties in the global temperature change caused by carbon release from permafrost thawing

2012

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Abstract. Under climate change thawing permafrost will cause old carbon which is currently frozen and inert to become vulnerable to decomposition and release into the climate system. This paper develops a simple framework for estimating the impact of this permafrost carbon release on the global mean temperature (P-GMT). The analysis is based on simulations made with the Hadley Centre climate model (HadGEM2-ES) for a range of representative CO 2 concentration pathways. Results using the high concentration pathway (RCP 8.5) suggest that by 2100 the annual methane (CH 4 ) emission rate is 2-59 Tg CH 4 yr −1 and 50-270 Pg C has been released as CO 2 with an associated P-GMT of 0.08-0.36 • C (all 5th-95th percentile ranges). P-GMT is considerably lower -between 0.02 and 0.11 • C -for the low concentration pathway (RCP2.6). The uncertainty in climate model scenario causes about 50 % of the spread in P-GMT by the end of the 21st century. The distribution of soil carbon, in particular how it varies with depth, contributes to about half of the remaining spread, with quality of soil carbon and decomposition processes contributing a further quarter each. These latter uncertainties could be reduced through additional observations. Over the next 20-30 yr, whilst scenario uncertainty is small, improving our knowledge of the quality of soil carbon will contribute significantly to reducing the spread in the, albeit relatively small, P-GMT.

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“…The global average atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration rose to 387 parts per million (ppm) in December 2009 (ESRL/NOAA 2009), the highest level it has reached over the past 800 000 years (Lüthi et al . 2008) and more than 38% above the pre‐industrial value of roughly 280 ppm (Raupach and Canadell 2008). There is a broad consensus among the scientific community that this increase in CO 2 is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels and changes in land use (Solomon et al .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research on natural C sinks has focused predominantly on either ocean ecosystems (Sabine et al . 2004) or terrestrial forest ecosystems (IPCC 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO₂

McLeod

Chmura

Bouillon

et al. 2011

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

2,607

1,770

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Recent research has highlighted the valuable role that coastal and marine ecosystems play in sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2). The carbon (C) sequestered in vegetated coastal ecosystems, specifically mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and salt marshes, has been termed “blue carbon”. Although their global area is one to two orders of magnitude smaller than that of terrestrial forests, the contribution of vegetated coastal habitats per unit area to long‐term C sequestration is much greater, in part because of their efficiency in trapping suspended matter and associated organic C during tidal inundation. Despite the value of mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and salt marshes in sequestering C, and the other goods and services they provide, these systems are being lost at critical rates and action is urgently needed to prevent further degradation and loss. Recognition of the C sequestration value of vegetated coastal ecosystems provides a strong argument for their protection and restoration; however, it is necessary to improve scientific understanding of the underlying mechanisms that control C sequestration in these ecosystems. Here, we identify key areas of uncertainty and specific actions needed to address them.

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Observing a Vulnerable Carbon Cycle

Cited by 16 publications

References 70 publications

A Global Sea Surface Carbon Observing System: Assessment of Changing Sea Surface CO2 and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes

A Global Sea Surface Carbon Observing System: Assessment of Changing Sea Surface CO2 and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes

Uncertainties in the global temperature change caused by carbon release from permafrost thawing

A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO₂

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Observing a Vulnerable Carbon Cycle

Cited by 16 publications

References 70 publications

A Global Sea Surface Carbon Observing System: Assessment of Changing Sea Surface CO2 and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes

A Global Sea Surface Carbon Observing System: Assessment of Changing Sea Surface CO2 and Air-Sea CO2 Fluxes

Uncertainties in the global temperature change caused by carbon release from permafrost thawing

A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO₂