The ocean and the atmosphere exchange massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). The pre-industrial influx from the ocean to the atmosphere was 70.6 Gt C yr –1 , while the flux in the opposite direction was 70 Gt C yr –1 ( IPCC 2007 ). Since the Industrial Revolution an anthropogenic flux has been superimposed on the natural flux. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, which remained in the range of 172–300 parts per million by volume (ppmv) over the past 800 000 years ( Lüthi et al. 2008 ), has increased during the industrial era to reach 387 ppmv in 2009. The rate of increase was about 1.0% yr –1 in the 1990s and reached 3.4% yr –1 between 2000 and 2008 ( Le Quéré et al. 2009 ). Future levels of atmospheric CO2 mostly depend on socio-economic parameters, and may reach 1071 ppmv in the year 2100 ( Plattner et al. 2001 ), corresponding to a fourfold increase since 1750. As pointed out over 50 years ago, ‘human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past nor be reproduced in the future’ ( Revelle and Suess 1957 ). Anthropogenic CO2 has three fates. In the years 2000 to 2008, about 29% was absorbed by the terrestrial biosphere and 26% by the ocean, while the remaining 45% remained in the atmosphere ( Le Quéré et al. 2009 ). The accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere increases the natural greenhouse effect and generates climate changes ( IPCC 2007 ). It is estimated that the surface waters of the oceans have taken up 118 Pg C, or about 25% of the carbon generated by human activities since 1800 ( Sabine et al. 2004 ). By taking CO2 away from the atmosphere, the oceanic and terrestrial sinks mitigate climatic changes. Should their efficiency decrease, more CO2 would remain in the atmosphere, generating larger climate perturbations. This book has four main groups of chapters.
Effects of climatic changes on carbon dioxide and water vapor fluxes in boreal forest ecosystems of European part of Russia
