Effect of Plankton Composition Shifts in the North Atlantic on Atmospheric pCO2

Marine carbon cycle processes are important for taking up atmospheric CO2 thereby reducing climate change. Net primary and export production are important pathways of carbon from the surface to the deep ocean where it is stored for millennia. Climate change can interact with marine ecosystems via ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Boot, A., von der Heydt, A. S., Dijkstra, H. A.
Other Authors: Marine and Atmospheric Research, Sub Physical Oceanography
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Carbon pump
Climate-change impacts
Decline
Diatom abundance
Ecosystems
Increase
Nutrient
Ocean
Phytoplankton
Trends
Geophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/426996
Description
Summary:Marine carbon cycle processes are important for taking up atmospheric CO2 thereby reducing climate change. Net primary and export production are important pathways of carbon from the surface to the deep ocean where it is stored for millennia. Climate change can interact with marine ecosystems via changes in the ocean stratification and ocean circulation. In this study we use results from the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2) to assess the effect of a changing climate on biological production and phytoplankton composition in the high latitude North Atlantic Ocean. We find a shift in phytoplankton type dominance from diatoms to small phytoplankton which reduces net primary and export productivity. Using a conceptual carbon-cycle model forced with CESM2 results, we give a rough estimate of a positive phytoplankton composition-atmospheric CO2 feedback of approximately 60 GtCO2/°C warming in the North Atlantic which lowers the 1.5° and 2.0°C warming safe carbon budgets.

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