Seasonal to decadal spatiotemporal variations of the global ocean carbon sink

Type Article
Date 2022-03
Language English
Author(s) Zhang Min1, 2, 3, 4, Cheng Yangyan1, 2, 4, Bao Ying1, 2, 3, 4, Zhao ChangORCID1, 2, 3, 4, Wang Gang1, 2, 3, 4, Zhang Yuanling1, 2, 3, 4, Song ZhenyaORCID1, 2, 3, 4, Wu Zhaohua1, 2, 3, 5, 6, Qiao Fangli1, 2, 3, 4
Affiliation(s) 1 : Minist Nat Resources, Inst Oceanog 1, Qingdao, Peoples R China.
2 : Minist Nat Resources, Key Lab Marine Sci & Numer Modeling, Qingdao, Peoples R China.
3 : Pilot Natl Lab Marine Sci & Technol Qingdao, Lab Reg Oceanog & Numer Modeling, Qingdao, Peoples R China.
4 : Shandong Key Lab Marine Sci & Numer Modeling, Qingdao, Peoples R China.
5 : Florida State Univ, Dept Earth Ocean & Atmospher Sci, Tallahassee, FL 32306 ,USA.
6 : Florida State Univ, Ctr Ocean Atmospher Predict Studies, Tallahassee, FL 32306 ,USA.
Source Global Change Biology (1354-1013) (Wiley), 2022-03 , Vol. 28 , N. 5 , P. 1786-1797
DOI 10.1111/gcb.16031
WOS© Times Cited 15
Keyword(s) decadal variation, ensemble empirical mode decomposition, equatorial Pacific Ocean, modulated annual cycle, ocean carbon sink, seasonal strengthening, Southern Ocean
Abstract

The global ocean has absorbed approximately 30% of anthropogenic CO2 since the beginning of the industrial revolution. However, the spatiotemporal evolution of this important global carbon sink varies substantially on all timescales and has not yet been well evaluated. Here, based on a reconstructed observation-based product of surface ocean pCO(2) and air-sea CO2 flux (the MPI-SOMFFN method), we investigated seasonal to decadal spatiotemporal variations of the ocean CO2 sink during the past three decades using an adaptive data analysis method. Two predominant variations are modulated annual cycles and decadal fluctuations, which account for approximately 46% and 25% of all extracted components, respectively. Although the whole summer to non-summer seasonal difference pattern is determined by the Southern Ocean, the non-summer CO2 sink at mid-latitudes in both hemispheres shows an increasing trend (a total increase of approximately 1.0 PgC during the period 1982-2019), while it is relatively stable in summer. On decadal timescales for the global ocean carbon sink, unlike the weakening decade (1990-1999) and the reinvigoration decade (2000-2009) in which the Southern Ocean plays the dominant role, the reinforcement decade (2010-2019) is mainly the result from the weakening source effect in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Our results suggest that except for the Southern Ocean's role in the global ocean carbon sink, the strengthening non-summer's sink at mid-latitudes in both hemispheres and the decadal or longer timescales of equatorial Pacific Ocean dynamics should be fully considered in understanding the oceanic carbon cycle on a global scale.

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Zhang Min, Cheng Yangyan, Bao Ying, Zhao Chang, Wang Gang, Zhang Yuanling, Song Zhenya, Wu Zhaohua, Qiao Fangli (2022). Seasonal to decadal spatiotemporal variations of the global ocean carbon sink. Global Change Biology, 28(5), 1786-1797. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16031 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00755/86717/