Influence of anthropogenic aerosol deposition on the relationship between oceanic productivity and warming

Satellite data and models suggest that oceanic productivity is reduced in response to less nutrient supply under warming. In contrast, anthropogenic aerosols provide nutrients and exert a fertilizing effect, but its contribution to evolution of oceanic productivity is unknown. We simulate the respon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Wang, Rong, Balkanski, Yves, Bopp, Laurent, Aumont, Olivier, Boucher, Olivier, Ciais, Philippe, Gehlen, Marion, Peñuelas, Josep, Ethé, Christian, Hauglustaine, Didier, Li, Bengang, Liu, Junfeng, Zhou, Feng, Tao, Shu
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2015
Subjects:
Research Letters
Indian
Pacific
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5102162/
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066753
Description
Summary:Satellite data and models suggest that oceanic productivity is reduced in response to less nutrient supply under warming. In contrast, anthropogenic aerosols provide nutrients and exert a fertilizing effect, but its contribution to evolution of oceanic productivity is unknown. We simulate the response of oceanic biogeochemistry to anthropogenic aerosols deposition under varying climate from 1850 to 2010. We find a positive response of observed chlorophyll to deposition of anthropogenic aerosols. Our results suggest that anthropogenic aerosols reduce the sensitivity of oceanic productivity to warming from −15.2 ± 1.8 to −13.3 ± 1.6 Pg C yr−1 °C−1 in global stratified oceans during 1948–2007. The reducing percentage over the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Indian Oceans reaches 40, 24, and 25%, respectively. We hypothesize that inevitable reduction of aerosol emissions in response to higher air quality standards in the future might accelerate the decline of oceanic productivity per unit warming.

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