Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014
The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO2 (Cant) that humans have emitted into the atmosphere has been pivotal for limiting global warming. The transport of Cant from the surface into the ocean interior, where most of it is accumulating, is the rate limiting step for this uptake. Yet multi-decadal tren...
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ETH Zurich
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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/590910 2023-10-09T21:54:05+02:00 Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014 Müller, Jens Daniel id_orcid:0 000-0003-3137-0883 Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 2023-01-16 application/application/x-hdf5 application/application/netcdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/590910 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000590910 en eng ETH Zurich http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/590910 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000590910 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International info:eu-repo/semantics/other Dataset 2023 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/59091010.3929/ethz-b-000590910 2023-09-10T23:50:46Z The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO2 (Cant) that humans have emitted into the atmosphere has been pivotal for limiting global warming. The transport of Cant from the surface into the ocean interior, where most of it is accumulating, is the rate limiting step for this uptake. Yet multi-decadal trends in the ocean interior storage of Cant have not been assessed at global scale. Here, we determine such trends by applying the eMLR(C*) regression method to ocean interior observations collected between 1989 and 2020. We find that the global ocean storage of Cant grew by 29 ± 3 Pg C dec-1 and 27 ± 3 Pg C dec-1 (±1σ) from 1994 to 2004 and 2004 to 2014, respectively. Although the two growth rates are not significantly different, they imply a reduction of the oceanic uptake fraction of the anthropogenic emissions from 36 ± 4 % to 27 ± 3 % during the respective decades. We attribute this reduction to a decrease of the ocean buffer capacity and changes in ocean circulation. In the Atlantic Ocean, the maximum storage rate shifted from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere, plausibly caused by a weaker formation rate of North Atlantic Deep Waters and an intensified ventilation of mode and intermediate waters in the Southern Hemisphere. Between 1994 and 2004, the oceanic Cant accumulation exceeded the net air-sea flux by 8 ± 4 Pg C dec-1, suggesting a loss of natural carbon from the ocean during this decade. Our results reveal a substantial vulnerability of the ocean carbon sink. Dataset North Atlantic ETH Zürich Research Collection |
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Open Polar |
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ETH Zürich Research Collection |
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ftethz |
language |
English |
description |
The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO2 (Cant) that humans have emitted into the atmosphere has been pivotal for limiting global warming. The transport of Cant from the surface into the ocean interior, where most of it is accumulating, is the rate limiting step for this uptake. Yet multi-decadal trends in the ocean interior storage of Cant have not been assessed at global scale. Here, we determine such trends by applying the eMLR(C*) regression method to ocean interior observations collected between 1989 and 2020. We find that the global ocean storage of Cant grew by 29 ± 3 Pg C dec-1 and 27 ± 3 Pg C dec-1 (±1σ) from 1994 to 2004 and 2004 to 2014, respectively. Although the two growth rates are not significantly different, they imply a reduction of the oceanic uptake fraction of the anthropogenic emissions from 36 ± 4 % to 27 ± 3 % during the respective decades. We attribute this reduction to a decrease of the ocean buffer capacity and changes in ocean circulation. In the Atlantic Ocean, the maximum storage rate shifted from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere, plausibly caused by a weaker formation rate of North Atlantic Deep Waters and an intensified ventilation of mode and intermediate waters in the Southern Hemisphere. Between 1994 and 2004, the oceanic Cant accumulation exceeded the net air-sea flux by 8 ± 4 Pg C dec-1, suggesting a loss of natural carbon from the ocean during this decade. Our results reveal a substantial vulnerability of the ocean carbon sink. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Müller, Jens Daniel id_orcid:0 000-0003-3137-0883 Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 |
spellingShingle |
Müller, Jens Daniel id_orcid:0 000-0003-3137-0883 Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014 |
author_facet |
Müller, Jens Daniel id_orcid:0 000-0003-3137-0883 Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 |
author_sort |
Müller, Jens Daniel |
title |
Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014 |
title_short |
Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014 |
title_full |
Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014 |
title_fullStr |
Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decadal Trends in the Oceanic Storage of Anthropogenic Carbon from 1994 to 2014 |
title_sort |
decadal trends in the oceanic storage of anthropogenic carbon from 1994 to 2014 |
publisher |
ETH Zurich |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/590910 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000590910 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/590910 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000590910 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/59091010.3929/ethz-b-000590910 |
_version_ |
1779317532263448576 |