Trends in North Atlantic sea-surface fCO2 from 1990 to 2006

• Published in: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Schuster, Ute, Watson, Andrew J., Bates, Nicholas R., Corbière, Antoine, Gonzalez-Davila, M., Metzl, Nicolas, Pierrot, Denis, Santana-Casiano, M.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: Sea–air flux of CO 2; Carbon dioxide; Sea surface; North Atlantic; Temporal variations; envir; geo; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/J.DSR2.2008.12.011; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00763146

International audience We examine observations from 1990 to 2006 from four voluntary observing ships and two time-series stations in the North Atlantic, fitting a sinusoidal annual cycle and linear year-on-year trend at all locations where there are sufficient data. Results show that in the subtropical regions, sea-surface fCO2 has closely followed the increasing trend in atmospheric fCO2. In contrast, farther north, sea-surface fCO2 has increased faster than fCO2 in the atmosphere. The resulting ΔfCO2, driving air–sea flux of CO2, has therefore decreased in the North Atlantic, particularly at higher latitudes, as has the annual mean air–sea flux. Several underlying causes may have led to the observed changes in sea-surface fCO2. Low-frequency modes, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, lead to changes in the sea-surface temperature, in sea-surface circulation and in vertical mixing, affecting sea-surface fCO2 through biogeochemical processes. A comparison with measurements covering a longer time period shows that the sea-surface fCO2 rise has accelerated since 1990 in the northern North Atlantic.