A 60-yr record of atmospheric carbon monoxide reconstructed from Greenland firn air

• Published in: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Main Authors: Petrenko, V., Martinerie, Patricia, Novelli, P., Etheridge, D. M., Levin, I., Wang, Z., Blunier, T., Chappellaz, Jérôme, Kaiser, J., Lang, P., Steele, L.P., Hammer, S., Mak, J. E., Langenfelds, R. L., Schwander, J., Severinghaus, J., Witrant, Emmanuel, Petron, G., Battle, M., Forster, G., Sturges, W. T., Lamarque, J.-F., Steffen, K., White, J. W. C.
• Other Authors: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Rochester, University of Rochester USA, CLIPS, CHANG, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Centre for Ice and Climate Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Institute Copenhagen (NBI), Faculty of Science Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-Faculty of Science Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU), Institut für Umweltphysik Heidelberg, Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg, Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres Stony Brook (ITPA), School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Stony Brook (SoMAS), Stony Brook University SUNY (SBU), State University of New York (SUNY)-State University of New York (SUNY)-Stony Brook University SUNY (SBU), State University of New York (SUNY)-State University of New York (SUNY), CLIPS, School of Environmental Sciences Norwich, University of East Anglia Norwich (UEA), CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Physics Institute Bern, University of Bern, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), University of California San Diego (UC San Diego), University of California-University of California, GIPSA - Systèmes linéaires et robustesse (GIPSA-SLR), Département Automatique (GIPSA-DA), Grenoble Images Parole Signal Automatique (GIPSA-lab), Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Grenoble Images Parole Signal Automatique (GIPSA-lab), Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Stendhal - Grenoble 3-Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 (UPMF)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Physics and Astronomy Brunswick, Bowdoin College Brunswick, National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder (NCAR), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder -National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado Boulder
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Arctic; Greenland; ice core; NGRIP
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00931570; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00931570/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00931570/file/acp-13-7567-2013.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7567-2013

International audience We present the first reconstruction of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) high latitude atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) mole fraction from Greenland firn air. Firn air samples were collected at three deep ice core sites in Greenland (NGRIP in 2001, Summit in 2006 and NEEM in 2008). CO records from the three sites agree well with each other as well as with recent atmospheric measurements, indicating that CO is well preserved in the firn at these sites. CO atmospheric history was reconstructed back to the year 1950 from the measurements using a combination of two forward models of gas transport in firn and an inverse model. The reconstructed history suggests that Arctic CO in 1950 was 140-150 nmol mol−1, which is higher than today's values. CO mole fractions rose by 10-15 nmol mol−1 from 1950 to the 1970s and peaked in the 1970s or early 1980s, followed by a ≈ 30 nmol mol−1 decline to today's levels. We compare the CO history with the atmospheric histories of methane, light hydrocarbons, molecular hydrogen, CO stable isotopes and hydroxyl radicals (OH), as well as with published CO emission inventories and results of a historical run from a chemistry-transport model. We find that the reconstructed Greenland CO history cannot be reconciled with available emission inventories unless unrealistically large changes in OH are assumed. We argue that the available CO emission inventories strongly underestimate historical NH emissions, and fail to capture the emission decline starting in the late 1970s, which was most likely due to reduced emissions from road transportation in North America and Europe.