Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003
The oceans absorb and store a significant portion of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but large uncertainties remain in the quantification of this sink. An improved assessment of the present and future oceanic carbon sink is therefore necessary to provide recommendations for long‐term global carbon cycl...
Published in: | Global Biogeochemical Cycles |
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:6089 2023-05-15T17:06:12+02:00 Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 Steinfeldt, R. Rhein, M. Bullister, J. Tanhua, Toste 2009 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6089/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6089/1/825_Steinfeldt_2009_InventoryChangesOfAnthropogenicCarbon_Artzeit_pubid12484.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GB003311 en eng AGU (American Geophysical Union) https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6089/1/825_Steinfeldt_2009_InventoryChangesOfAnthropogenicCarbon_Artzeit_pubid12484.pdf Steinfeldt, R., Rhein, M., Bullister, J. and Tanhua, T. (2009) Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003. Open Access Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 23 (GB3010). DOI 10.1029/2008GB003311 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GB003311>. doi:10.1029/2008GB003311 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GB003311 2023-04-07T14:52:11Z The oceans absorb and store a significant portion of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but large uncertainties remain in the quantification of this sink. An improved assessment of the present and future oceanic carbon sink is therefore necessary to provide recommendations for long‐term global carbon cycle and climate policies. The formation of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) is a unique fast track for transporting anthropogenic CO2 into the ocean's interior, making the deep waters rich in anthropogenic carbon. Thus the Atlantic is presently estimated to hold 38% of the oceanic anthropogenic CO2 inventory, although its volume makes up only 25% of the world ocean. Here we analyze the inventory change of anthropogenic CO2 in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 and its relationship to NADW formation. For the whole region between 20°S and 65°N the inventory amounts to 32.5 ± 9.5 Petagram carbon (Pg C) in 1997 and increases up to 36.0 ± 10.5 Pg C in 2003. This result is quite similar to earlier studies. Moreover, the overall increase of anthropogenic carbon is in close agreement with the expected change due to rising atmospheric CO2 levels of 1.69% a−1. On the other hand, when considering the subpolar region only, the results demonstrate that the recent weakening in the formation of Labrador Sea Water, a component of NADW, has already led to a decrease of the anthropogenic carbon inventory in this water mass. As a consequence, the overall inventory for the total water column in the western subpolar North Atlantic increased only by 2% between 1997 and 2003, much less than the 11% that would be expected from the increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. Article in Journal/Newspaper Labrador Sea NADW North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Global Biogeochemical Cycles 23 3 n/a n/a |
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Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
op_collection_id |
ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
The oceans absorb and store a significant portion of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but large uncertainties remain in the quantification of this sink. An improved assessment of the present and future oceanic carbon sink is therefore necessary to provide recommendations for long‐term global carbon cycle and climate policies. The formation of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) is a unique fast track for transporting anthropogenic CO2 into the ocean's interior, making the deep waters rich in anthropogenic carbon. Thus the Atlantic is presently estimated to hold 38% of the oceanic anthropogenic CO2 inventory, although its volume makes up only 25% of the world ocean. Here we analyze the inventory change of anthropogenic CO2 in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 and its relationship to NADW formation. For the whole region between 20°S and 65°N the inventory amounts to 32.5 ± 9.5 Petagram carbon (Pg C) in 1997 and increases up to 36.0 ± 10.5 Pg C in 2003. This result is quite similar to earlier studies. Moreover, the overall increase of anthropogenic carbon is in close agreement with the expected change due to rising atmospheric CO2 levels of 1.69% a−1. On the other hand, when considering the subpolar region only, the results demonstrate that the recent weakening in the formation of Labrador Sea Water, a component of NADW, has already led to a decrease of the anthropogenic carbon inventory in this water mass. As a consequence, the overall inventory for the total water column in the western subpolar North Atlantic increased only by 2% between 1997 and 2003, much less than the 11% that would be expected from the increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steinfeldt, R. Rhein, M. Bullister, J. Tanhua, Toste |
spellingShingle |
Steinfeldt, R. Rhein, M. Bullister, J. Tanhua, Toste Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 |
author_facet |
Steinfeldt, R. Rhein, M. Bullister, J. Tanhua, Toste |
author_sort |
Steinfeldt, R. |
title |
Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 |
title_short |
Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 |
title_full |
Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 |
title_fullStr |
Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003 |
title_sort |
inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the atlantic between 1997 and 2003 |
publisher |
AGU (American Geophysical Union) |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6089/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6089/1/825_Steinfeldt_2009_InventoryChangesOfAnthropogenicCarbon_Artzeit_pubid12484.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GB003311 |
genre |
Labrador Sea NADW North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Labrador Sea NADW North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6089/1/825_Steinfeldt_2009_InventoryChangesOfAnthropogenicCarbon_Artzeit_pubid12484.pdf Steinfeldt, R., Rhein, M., Bullister, J. and Tanhua, T. (2009) Inventory changes of anthropogenic carbon in the Atlantic between 1997 and 2003. Open Access Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 23 (GB3010). DOI 10.1029/2008GB003311 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GB003311>. doi:10.1029/2008GB003311 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GB003311 |
container_title |
Global Biogeochemical Cycles |
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23 |
container_issue |
3 |
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1766061234114789376 |