scholarly journals Air-sea flux of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the North Atlantic

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (17) ◽  
pp. 16-1-16-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif G. Anderson ◽  
Are Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The North ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide

scholarly journals Detecting anthropogenic carbon dioxide uptake and ocean acidification in the North Atlantic Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 989-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Bates ◽  
M. H. P. Best ◽  
K. Neely ◽  
R. Garley ◽  
A. G. Dickson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
The North ◽  
Seawater Ph ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide

Abstract. Fossil fuel use, cement manufacture and land-use changes are the primary sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, with the ocean absorbing 30 %. Ocean uptake and chemical equilibration of anthropogenic CO2with seawater results in a gradual reduction in seawater pH and saturation states (Ω) for calcium carbonate (CaCO3) minerals in a process termed ocean acidification. Assessing the present and future impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems requires detection of the multi-decadal rate of change across ocean basins and at ocean time-series sites. Here, we show the longest continuous record of ocean CO2 changes and ocean acidification in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre near Bermuda from 1983–2011. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) increased in surface seawater by ~40 μmol kg−1 and ~50 μatm (~20 %), respectively. Increasing Revelle factor (β) values imply that the capacity of North Atlantic surface waters to absorb CO2 has also diminished. As indicators of ocean acidification, seawater pH decreased by ~0.05 (0.0017 yr−1) and Ω values by ~7–8 %. Such data provide critically needed multi-decadal information for assessing the North Atlantic Ocean CO2sink and the pH changes that determine marine ecosystem responses to ocean acidification.

scholarly journals Detecting anthropogenic carbon dioxide uptake and ocean acidification in the North Atlantic Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 2509-2522 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Bates ◽  
M. H. P. Best ◽  
K. Neely ◽  
R. Garley ◽  
A. G. Dickson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
The North ◽  
Seawater Ph ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide

Abstract. Fossil fuel use, cement manufacture and land-use changes are the primary sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, with the ocean absorbing approximately 30% (Sabine et al., 2004). Ocean uptake and chemical equilibration of anthropogenic CO2 with seawater results in a gradual reduction in seawater pH and saturation states (Ω) for calcium carbonate (CaCO3) minerals in a process termed ocean acidification. Assessing the present and future impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems requires detection of the multi-decadal rate of change across ocean basins and at ocean time-series sites. Here, we show the longest continuous record of ocean CO2 changes and ocean acidification in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre near Bermuda from 1983–2011. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) increased in surface seawater by ~40 μmol kg−1 and ~50 μatm (~20%), respectively. Increasing Revelle factor (β) values imply that the capacity of North Atlantic surface waters to absorb CO2 has also diminished. As indicators of ocean acidification, seawater pH decreased by ~0.05 (0.0017 yr−1) and ω values by ~7–8%. Such data provide critically needed multi-decadal information for assessing the North Atlantic Ocean CO2 sink and the pH changes that determine marine ecosystem responses to ocean acidification.

scholarly journals Multi-decadal uptake of carbon dioxide into subtropical mode water of the North Atlantic Ocean

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 12451-12476 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Bates
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Mode Water ◽  
Subtropical Mode Water ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The North Atlantic Oscillation

Abstract. Natural climate variability impacts the multi-decadal uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (Cant) into the North Atlantic Ocean subpolar and subtropical gyres. Previous studies have shown that there is significant uptake of CO2 into the subtropical mode water (STMW) that forms south of the Gulf Stream in winter and constitutes the dominant upper-ocean water mass in the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean. Observations at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site near Bermuda show an increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of +1.51 ± 0.08 μmol kg−1 yr−1 between 1988 and 2011. It is estimated that the sink of CO2 into STMW was 0.985 ± 0.018 Pg C (Pg = 1015 g C) between 1988 and 2011 (~70 % of which is due to uptake of Cant). However, the STMW sink of CO2 was strongly coupled to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) with large uptake of CO2 into STMW during the 1990s (NAO positive phase). In contrast, uptake of CO2 into STMW was much reduced in the 2000s during the NAO neutral/negative phase. Thus, NAO induced variability of the STMW CO2 sink is important when evaluating multi-decadal changes in North Atlantic Ocean CO2 sinks.

scholarly journals Drivers of 21<sup>st</sup> Century carbon cycle variability in the North Atlantic Ocean

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Couldrey ◽  
Kevin I. C. Oliver ◽  
Andrew Yool ◽  
Paul R. Halloran ◽  
Eric P. Achterberg
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Decadal Variability ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
The North ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract. The North Atlantic carbon sink is a prominent component of global climate, storing large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), but this basin’s CO2 uptake variability presents challenges for future climate prediction. A comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the processes that give rise to year-to-year (interannual) and decade-to-decade (decadal) variability in the North Atlantic’s dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) inventory is lacking. Here, we numerically simulate the oceanic response to human-induced (anthropogenic) climate change from the industrial era to the year 2100. The model distinguishes how different physical, chemical, and biological processes modify the basin’s DIC inventory; the saturation, soft tissue, and carbonate pumps, anthropogenic emissions, and other processes causing air-sea disequilibria. There are four ‘natural’ pools (saturation, soft tissue, carbonate, and disequilibrium), and an ‘anthropogenic’ pool. Interannual variability of the North Atlantic DIC inventory arises primarily due to temperature- and alkalinity-induced changes in carbon solubility (saturation concentrations). A mixture of saturation and anthropogenic drivers cause decadal variability. Multidecadal variability results from the opposing effects of saturation versus soft tissue carbon, and anthropogenic carbon uptake. By the year 2100, the North Atlantic gains 66 Pg (1 Pg = 1015 grams) of anthropogenic carbon, and the natural carbon pools collectively decline by 4.8 Pg. The first order controls on interannual variability of the North Atlantic carbon sink size are therefore largely physical, and the biological pump emerges as an important driver of change on multidecadal timescales. Further work should identify specifically which physical processes underlie the interannual saturation-dominated DIC variability documented here.

scholarly journals Multi-decadal uptake of carbon dioxide into subtropical mode water of the North Atlantic Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 2649-2659 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Bates
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
Mode Water ◽  
Subtropical Mode Water ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract. Natural climate variability impacts the multi-decadal uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (Cant) into the North Atlantic Ocean subpolar and subtropical gyres. Previous studies have shown that there is significant uptake of CO2 into subtropical mode water (STMW) of the North Atlantic. STMW forms south of the Gulf Stream in winter and constitutes the dominant upper-ocean water mass in the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean. Observations at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site near Bermuda show an increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of +1.51 ± 0.08 μmol kg−1 yr−1 between 1988 and 2011, but also an increase in ocean acidification indicators such as pH at rates (−0.0022 ± 0.0002 yr−1) higher than the surface ocean (Bates et al., 2012). It is estimated that the sink of CO2 into STMW was 0.985 ± 0.018 Pg C (Pg = 1015 g C) between 1988 and 2011 (70 ± 1.8% of which is due to uptake of Cant). The sink of CO2 into the STMW is 20% of the CO2 uptake in the North Atlantic Ocean between 14°–50° N (Takahashi et al., 2009). However, the STMW sink of CO2 was strongly coupled to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), with large uptake of CO2 into STMW during the 1990s during a predominantly NAO positive phase. In contrast, uptake of CO2 into STMW was much reduced in the 2000s during the NAO neutral/negative phase. Thus, NAO induced variability of the STMW CO2 sink is important when evaluating multi-decadal changes in North Atlantic Ocean CO2 sinks.

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