Natural variability and anthropogenic trends in oceanic oxygen in a coupled carbon cycle-climate model ensemble ...

• Main Authors: Frölicher, T. L., Joos, F., Plattner, G.-K., Steinacher, M., Doney, S.C.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2009
• Subjects: 530 Physics; Pacific; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48350/37494; https://boris.unibe.ch/37494/

Internal and externally forced variability in oceanic oxygen (O2) are investigated on different spatiotemporal scales using a six-member ensemble from the National Center for Atmospheric Research CSM1.4-carbon coupled climate model. The oceanic O2 inventory is projected to decrease significantly in global warming simulations of the 20th and 21st centuries. The anthropogenically forced O2 decrease is partly compensated by volcanic eruptions, which cause considerable interannual to decadal variability. Volcanic perturbations in oceanic oxygen concentrations gradually penetrate the ocean’s top 500 m and persist for several years. While well identified on global scales, the detection and attribution of local O2 changes to volcanic forcing is difficult because of unforced variability. Internal climate modes can substantially contribute to surface and subsurface O2 variability. Variability in the North Atlantic and North Pacific are associated with changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation and Pacific Decadal ...