Climate Change Impacts on Natural Sulfur Production: Ocean Acidification and Community Shifts

• Published in: Atmosphere
• Main Authors: Menzo, Zachary M., Elliott, Scott, Hartin, Corinne, Hoffman, Forrest M., Wang, Shanlin
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Hector; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1495996; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1495996; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9050167

Utilizing the reduced-complexity model Hector, a regional scale analysis was conducted quantifying the possible effects climate change may have on dimethyl sulfide (DMS) emissions within the oceans. The investigation began with a review of the sulfur cycle in modern Earth system models. We then expanded the biogeochemical representation within Hector to include a natural ocean component while accounting for acidification and planktonic community shifts. The report presents results from both a latitudinal and a global perspective. This new approach highlights disparate outcomes which have been inadequately characterized via planetary averages in past publications. Our findings suggest that natural sulfur emissions (ESN) may exert a forcing up to 4 times that of the CO 2 marine feedback, 0.62 and 0.15 Wm –2 , respectively, and reverse the radiative forcing sign in low latitudes. Additionally, sensitivity tests were conducted to demonstrate the need for further examination of the DMS loop. As a result, the present work attempts to include dynamic ESN within reduced-complexity simulations of the sulfur cycle, illustrating its impact on the global radiative budget.