Can ocean iron fertilization mitigate ocean acidification?

Ocean iron fertilization has been proposed as a method to mitigate anthropogenic climate change, and there is continued commercial interest in using iron fertilization to generate carbon credits. It has been further speculated that ocean iron fertilization could help mitigate ocean acidification. Here, using a global ocean carbon cycle model, we performed idealized ocean iron fertilization simulations to place an upper bound on the effect of iron fertilization on atmospheric CO₂ and ocean acidification. Under the IPCC A2 CO₂ emission scenario, at year 2100 the model simulates an atmospheric CO₂ concentration of 965 ppm with the mean surface ocean pH 0.44 units less than its pre-industrial value of 8.18. A globally sustained ocean iron fertilization could not diminish CO₂ concentrations below 833 ppm or reduce the mean surface ocean pH change to less than 0.38 units. This maximum of 0.06 unit mitigation in surface pH change by the end of this century is achieved at the cost of storing more anthropogenic CO₂ in the ocean interior, furthering acidifying the deep-ocean. If the amount of net carbon storage in the deep ocean by iron fertilization produces an equivalent amount of emission credits, ocean iron fertilization further acidifies the deep ocean without conferring any chemical benefit to the surface ocean.     

Learning about the ocean carbon cycle from observational constraints and model simulations of multiple tracers

A key question in studies of the potential for reducing uncertainty in climate change projections is how additional observations may be used to constrain models. We examine the case of ocean carbon cycle models. The reliability of ocean models in projecting oceanic CO₂ uptake is fundamentally dependent on their skills in simulating ocean circulation and air–sea gas exchange. In this study we demonstrate how a model simulation of multiple tracers and utilization of a variety of observational data help us to obtain additional information about the parameterization of ocean circulation and air–sea gas exchange, relative to approaches that use only a single tracer. The benefit of using multiple tracers is based on the fact that individual tracer holds unique information with regard to ocean mixing, circulation, and air–sea gas exchange. In a previous modeling study, we have shown that the simulation of radiocarbon enables us to identify the importance of parameterizing sub-grid scale ocean mixing processes in terms of diffusive mixing along constant density surface (isopycnal mixing) and the inclusion of the effect of mesoscale eddies. In this study we show that the simulation of phosphate, a major macronutrient in the ocean, helps us to detect a weak isopycnal mixing in the upper ocean that does not show up in the radiocarbon simulation. We also show that the simulation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) reveals excessive upwelling in the Southern Ocean, which is also not apparent in radiocarbon simulations. Furthermore, the updated ocean inventory data of man-made radiocarbon produced by nuclear tests (bomb ¹⁴C) enable us to recalibrate the rate of air–sea gas exchange. The progressive modifications made in the model based on the simulation of additional tracers and utilization of updated observational data overall improve the model’s ability to simulate ocean circulation and air–sea gas exchange, particularly in the Southern Ocean, and has great consequence for projected CO₂ uptake. Simulated global ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ from pre-industrial time to the present day by both previous and updated models are within the range of observational-based estimates, but with substantial regional difference, especially in the Southern Ocean. By year 2100, the updated model estimated CO₂ uptake are 531 and 133 PgC (1PgC?=?10¹⁵ gram carbon) for the global and Southern Ocean respectively, whereas the previous version model estimated values are 540 and 190 PgC.     

CO2 threshold for millennial-scale oscillations in the climate system: implications for global warming scenarios

We present several equilibrium runs under varying atmospheric CO₂ concentrations using the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM). The model shows two very different responses: for CO₂ concentrations of 400 ppm or lower, the system evolves into an equilibrium state. For CO₂ concentrations of 440 ppm or higher, the system starts oscillating between a state with vigorous deep water formation in the Southern Ocean and a state with no deep water formation in the Southern Ocean. The flushing events result in a rapid increase in atmospheric temperatures, degassing of CO₂ and therefore an increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, and a reduction of sea ice cover in the Southern Ocean. They also cool the deep ocean worldwide. After the flush, the deep ocean warms slowly again and CO₂ is taken up by the ocean until the stratification becomes unstable again at high latitudes thousands of years later. The existence of a threshold in CO₂ concentration which places the UVic ESCM in either an oscillating or non-oscillating state makes our results intriguing. If the UVic ESCM captures a mechanism that is present and important in the real climate system, the consequences would comprise a rapid increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of several tens of ppm, an increase in global surface temperature of the order of 1–2°C, local temperature changes of the order of 6°C and a profound change in ocean stratification, deep water temperature and sea ice cover.     

Wind-driven changes in Southern Ocean residual circulation, ocean carbon reservoirs and atmospheric CO2

The effect of idealized wind-driven circulation changes in the Southern Ocean on atmospheric CO₂ and the ocean carbon inventory is investigated using a suite of coarse-resolution, global coupled ocean circulation and biogeochemistry experiments with parameterized eddy activity and only modest changes in surface buoyancy forcing, each experiment integrated for 5,000 years. A positive correlation is obtained between the meridional overturning or residual circulation in the Southern Ocean and atmospheric CO₂: stronger or northward-shifted westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere result in increased residual circulation, greater upwelling of carbon-rich deep waters and oceanic outgassing, which increases atmospheric pCO₂ by ～20 μatm; weaker or southward-shifted winds lead to the opposing result. The ocean carbon inventory in our model varies through contrasting changes in the saturated, disequilibrium and biogenic (soft-tissue and carbonate) reservoirs, each varying by O(10–100) PgC, all of which contribute to the net anomaly in atmospheric CO₂. Increased residual overturning deepens the global pycnocline, warming the upper ocean and decreasing the saturated carbon reservoir. Increased upwelling of carbon- and nutrient-rich deep waters and inefficient biological activity results in subduction of unutilized nutrients into the ocean interior, decreasing the biogenic carbon reservoir of intermediate and mode waters ventilating the Northern Hemisphere, and making the disequilibrium carbon reservoir more positive in the mode waters due to the reduced residence time at the surface. Wind-induced changes in the model carbon inventory are dominated by the response of the global pycnocline, although there is an additional abyssal response when the peak westerly winds change their latitude, altering their proximity to Drake Passage and changing the depth extent of the southward return flow of the overturning: a northward shift of the westerly winds isolates dense isopycnals, allowing biogenic carbon to accumulate in the deep ocean of the Southern Hemisphere, while a southward shift shoals dense isopycnals that outcrop in the Southern Ocean and reduces the biogenic carbon store in the deep ocean.     

Declining Temporal Effectiveness of Carbon Sequestration: Implications for Compliance with the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change

Carbon sequestration is increasingly being promoted as a potential response to the risks of unrestrained emissions of CO₂, either in place of or as a complement to reductions in the use of fossil fuels. However, the potential role of carbon sequestration as an (at-least partial) substitute for reductions in fossil fuel use can be properly evaluated only in the context of a long-term acceptable limit (or range of limits) to the increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration, taking into account the response of the entire carbon cycle to artificial sequestration. Under highly stringent emission-reduction scenarios for non-CO₂ greenhouse gases, 450 ppmv CO₂ is the equivalent, in terms of radiative forcing of climate,to a doubling of the pre-industrial concentration of CO₂. It is argued in this paper that compliance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (henceforth, the UNFCCC) implies that atmospheric CO₂ concentration should be limited, or quickly returned to, a concentration somewhere below 450 ppmv. A quasi-one-dimensional coupled climate-carbon cycle model is used to assess the response of the carbon cycle to idealized carbon sequestration scenarios. The impact on atmospheric CO₂ concentration of sequestering a given amount of CO₂ that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere, either in deep geological formations or in the deep ocean, rapidly decreases over time. This occurs as a result of a reduction in the rate of absorption of atmospheric CO₂ by the natural carbon sinks (the terrestrial biosphere and oceans) in response to the slower buildup of atmospheric CO₂ resulting from carbon sequestration. For 100 years of continuous carbon sequestration, the sequestration fraction (defined as the reduction in atmospheric CO₂ divided by the cumulative sequestration) decreases to 14% 1000 years after the beginning of sequestration in geological formations with no leakage, and to 6% 1000 years after the beginning of sequestration in the deep oceans. The difference (8% of cumulative sequestration) is due to an eflux from the ocean to the atmosphere of some of the carbon injected into the deep ocean.The coupled climate-carbon cycle model is also used to assess the amount of sequestration needed to limit or return the atmospheric CO₂ concentration to 350–400 ppmv after phasing out all use of fossil fuels by no later than 2100. Under such circumstances, sequestration of 1–2 Gt C/yr by the latter part of this century could limit the peak CO₂ concentration to 420–460 ppmv, depending on how rapidly use of fossilfuels is terminated and the strength of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. To draw down the atmospheric CO₂ concentration requires creating negative emissions through sequestration of CO₂ released as a byproduct of the production of gaseous fuels from biomass primary energy. Even if fossil fuel emissions fall to zero by 2100, it will be difficult to create a large enough negative emission using biomass energy to return atmospheric CO₂ to 350 ppmv within 100 years of its peak. However, building up soil carbon could help in returning CO₂ to 350 ppmv within 100 years of its peak. In any case, a 100-year period of climate corresponding to the equivalent of a doubled-CO₂ concentration would occur before temperatures decreased. Nevertheless, returning the atmospheric CO₂concentration to 350 ppmv would reduce longterm sea level rise due to thermal expansion and might be sufficient to prevent the irreversible total melting of the Greenland ice sheet, collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, and abrupt changes in ocean circulation that might otherwise occur given a prolonged doubled-CO₂ climate. Recovery of coral reef ecosystems, if not already driven to extinction, could begin.     

Factors influencing anthropogenic carbon dioxide uptake in the North Atlantic in models of the ocean carbon cycle

The uptake and storage of anthropogenic carbon in the North Atlantic is investigated using different configurations of ocean general circulation/carbon cycle models. We investigate how different representations of the ocean physics in the models, which represent the range of models currently in use, affect the evolution of CO₂ uptake in the North Atlantic. The buffer effect of the ocean carbon system would be expected to reduce ocean CO₂ uptake as the ocean absorbs increasing amounts of CO₂. We find that the strength of the buffer effect is very dependent on the model ocean state, as it affects both the magnitude and timing of the changes in uptake. The timescale over which uptake of CO₂ in the North Atlantic drops to below preindustrial levels is particularly sensitive to the ocean state which sets the degree of buffering; it is less sensitive to the choice of atmospheric CO₂ forcing scenario. Neglecting physical climate change effects, North Atlantic CO₂ uptake drops below preindustrial levels between 50 and 300 years after stabilisation of atmospheric CO₂ in different model configurations. Storage of anthropogenic carbon in the North Atlantic varies much less among the different model configurations, as differences in ocean transport of dissolved inorganic carbon and uptake of CO₂ compensate each other. This supports the idea that measured inventories of anthropogenic carbon in the real ocean cannot be used to constrain the surface uptake. Including physical climate change effects reduces anthropogenic CO₂ uptake and storage in the North Atlantic further, due to the combined effects of surface warming, increased freshwater input, and a slowdown of the meridional overturning circulation. The timescale over which North Atlantic CO₂ uptake drops to below preindustrial levels is reduced by about one-third, leading to an estimate of this timescale for the real world of about 50 years after the stabilisation of atmospheric CO₂. In the climate change experiment, a shallowing of the mixed layer depths in the North Atlantic results in a significant reduction in primary production, reducing the potential role for biology in drawing down anthropogenic CO₂.     

Long-term effects of anthropogenic CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions simulated with a complex earth system model

A new complex earth system model consisting of an atmospheric general circulation model, an ocean general circulation model, a three-dimensional ice sheet model, a marine biogeochemistry model, and a dynamic vegetation model was used to study the long-term response to anthropogenic carbon emissions. The prescribed emissions follow estimates of past emissions for the period 1751–2000 and standard IPCC emission scenarios up to the year 2100. After 2100, an exponential decrease of the emissions was assumed. For each of the scenarios, a small ensemble of simulations was carried out. The North Atlantic overturning collapsed in the high emission scenario (A2) simulations. In the low emission scenario (B1), only a temporary weakening of the deep water formation in the North Atlantic is predicted. The moderate emission scenario (A1B) brings the system close to its bifurcation point, with three out of five runs leading to a collapsed North Atlantic overturning circulation. The atmospheric moisture transport predominantly contributes to the collapse of the deep water formation. In the simulations with collapsed deep water formation in the North Atlantic a substantial cooling over parts of the North Atlantic is simulated. Anthropogenic climate change substantially reduces the ability of land and ocean to sequester anthropogenic carbon. The simulated effect of a collapse of the deep water formation in the North Atlantic on the atmospheric CO₂ concentration turned out to be relatively small. The volume of the Greenland ice sheet is reduced, but its contribution to global mean sea level is almost counterbalanced by the growth of the Antarctic ice sheet due to enhanced snowfall. The modifications of the high latitude freshwater input due to the simulated changes in mass balance of the ice sheet are one order of magnitude smaller than the changes due to atmospheric moisture transport. After the year 3000, the global mean surface temperature is predicted to be almost constant due to the compensating effects of decreasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations due to oceanic uptake and delayed response to increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations before.     

Oceanic transport and storage of carbon emissions

Using a global carbon cycle model (GLOCO) that considers seven terrestrial biomes, surface and deep ocean layers based on the HILDA model and a single mixed atmosphere, we analyzed the response of atmospheric CO₂ concentration and oceanic DIC and DOC depth profiles to additions of carbon to the atmosphere and ocean. The rate of transport of carbon to the deepest oceanic layers is rather insensitive to the atmosphereic-ocean surface gas exchange coefficient over a wide range, hence discrepancies between researchers on the precise global average value of this coefficient do not significantly affect predictions of atmospheric response to anthropogenic inputs. Upwelling velocity, on the other hand, amplifies oceanic response by increasing primary production in the upper ocean layers, resulting in a larger flux into DOC and sediments and increased carbon storage; experiments to reduce the uncertainty in this parameter would be valuable.The location of the carbon addition, whether it is released in the atmosphere or in the middle of the oceanic thermocline, has a significant impact on the maximum atmospheric CO₂ concentration (pCO₂) subsequently reached, suggesting that oceanic burial of a significant fraction of carbon emissions (e.g. via clathrate hydrides) may be an important management option for limiting pCO₂ buildup. Our analysis indicates that the effectiveness of ocean burial decreases asymptotically below about 1000 m depth. With a constant emissions scenario (at 1990 levels), pCO₂ at year 2100 is reduced from 501 ppmv considering all emissions go to the atmosphere, to 422 ppmv with ocean burial at a depth of 1000 m of 50% of the fossil fuel emissions. An alternative scenario looks at stabilizing pCO₂ at 450 ppmv; with no ocean burial of fossil fuel emissions, the rate of emissions has to be cut drastically after the year 2010, whereas oceanic burial of 2 GtC/yr allows for a smoother transition to alternative energy sources.     

Role of the ocean in controlling atmospheric CO2 concentration in the course of global glaciations

Responses of ocean circulation and ocean carbon cycle in the course of a global glaciation from the present Earth conditions are investigated by using a coupled climate-biogeochemical model. We investigate steady states of the climate system under colder conditions induced by a reduction of solar constant from the present condition. A globally ice-covered solution is obtained under the solar constant of 92.2% of the present value. We found that because almost all of sea water reaches the frozen point, the ocean stratification is maintained not by temperature but by salinity just before the global glaciation (at the solar constant of 92.3%). It is demonstrated that the ocean circulation is driven not by the surface cooling but by the surface freshwater forcing associated with formation and melting of sea ice. As a result, the deep ocean is ventilated exclusively by deep water formation in southern high latitudes where sea ice production takes place much more massively than northern high latitudes. We also found that atmospheric CO₂ concentration decreases through the ocean carbon cycle. This reduction is explained primarily by an increase of solubility of CO₂ due to a decrease of sea surface temperature, whereas the export production weakens by 30% just before the global glaciation. In order to investigate the conditions for the atmospheric CO₂ reduction to cause global glaciations, we also conduct a series of simulations in which the total amount of carbon in the atmosphere?Cocean system is reduced from the present condition. Under the present solar constant, the results show that the global glaciation takes place when the total carbon decreases to be 70% of the present-day value. Just before the glaciation, weathering rate becomes very small (almost 10% of the present value) and the organic carbon burial declines due to weakened biological productivity. Therefore, outgoing carbon flux from the atmosphere?Cocean system significantly decreases. This suggests the atmosphere?Cocean system has strong negative feedback loops against decline of the total carbon content. The results obtained here imply that some processes outside the atmosphere?Cocean feedback loops may be required to cause global glaciations.     

Projected impact of deep ocean carbon dioxide discharge on atmospheric CO2 concentrations

An evaluation of oceanic containment strategies for anthropogenic carbon dioxide is presented. Energy conservation is also addressed through an input hydrocarbon-fuel consumption function. The effectiveness of the proposed countermeasures is determined from atmospheric CO₂ concentration predictions. A previous box model with a diffusive deep ocean is adapted and applied to the concept of fractional CO₂ injection in 500 m deep waters. Next, the contributions of oceanic calcium carbonate sediment dissolution, and of deep seawater renewal, are included. Numerical results show that for CO₂ direct removal measures to be effective, large fractions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide have to be processed. This point favors fuel pre-processing concepts. The global model also indicates that energy conservation, i.e. a hydrocarbon-fuel consumption slowdown, remains the most effective way to mitigate the greenhouse effect, because it offers mankind a substantial time delay to implement new energy production alternatives.     

海洋环流模式模拟自然 和核辐射14C的分布

放射性14C在海洋环流研究和人为CO2问题的研究中都有重要地位。本文用海洋环流模式模拟了海洋中自然14C的分布及海洋对核辐射产生的放射性14C的吸收, 以期对海洋吸收人为CO2的能力做一初步的研究。模拟的海洋环流结果与观测相比符合得较好,成功地模拟出了北大西洋深水（NADW）、南极底水 (AABW）等基本特征。对自然14C的模拟揭示出了海洋通风的基本特征。模拟出的沿GEOSECS 路径的南、北垂直截面与观测结果符合得较好。对核辐射14C的模拟表明:模式模拟的沿GEOSECS 路径的南、北垂直截面与观测结果符合得较好;模拟出的海洋表面核辐射浓度与观测值一致,但核辐射14C在海洋中的柱存量和平均穿透深度都比观测结果要小。文中分析了造成这种差异的可能原因。     

Ocean dynamics determine the response of oceanic CO2 uptake to climate change

The increase of atmospheric CO₂ concentrations due to anthropogenic activities is substantially damped by the ocean, whose CO₂ uptake is determined by the state of the ocean, which in turn is influenced by climate change. We investigate the mechanisms of the ocean’s carbon uptake within the feedback loop of atmospheric CO₂ concentration, climate change and atmosphere/ocean CO₂ flux. We evaluate two transient simulations from 1860 until 2100, performed with a version of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) with the carbon cycle included. In both experiments observed anthropogenic CO₂ emissions were prescribed until 2000, followed by the emissions according to the IPCC Scenario A2. In one simulation the radiative forcing of changing atmospheric CO₂ is taken into account (coupled), in the other it is suppressed (uncoupled). In both simulations, the oceanic carbon uptake increases from 1 GT C/year in 1960 to 4.5 GT C/year in 2070. Afterwards, this trend weakens in the coupled simulation, leading to a reduced uptake rate of 10% in 2100 compared to the uncoupled simulation. This includes a partial offset due to higher atmospheric CO₂ concentrations in the coupled simulation owing to reduced carbon uptake by the terrestrial biosphere. The difference of the oceanic carbon uptake between both simulations is primarily due to partial pressure difference and secondary to solubility changes. These contributions are widely offset by changes of gas transfer velocity due to sea ice melting and wind changes. The major differences appear in the Southern Ocean (?45%) and in the North Atlantic (?30%), related to reduced vertical mixing and North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, respectively. In the polar areas, sea ice melting induces additional CO₂ uptake (+20%).     

A simulation study for the global carbon cycle,including man's impact on the biosphere

The simulation model accounts for four major compartments in the global carbon cycle: atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial biosphere and fossil carbon reservoir. The ocean is further compartmentalized into a high and a low latitude surface layer, and into 10 deep sea strata. The oceanic carbon fluxes are caused by massflow of descending and upwelling water, by precipitation of organic material and by diffusion exchange.The biosphere is horizontally subdivided into six ecosystems and vertically into leaves, branches, stemwood, roots, litter, young humus and stable soil carbon. Deforestation, slash and burn agriculture, rangeland burning and shifts in land use have been included. The atmosphere is treated as one well mixed reservoir. Fossil fuel consumption is simulated with historic data, and with IIASA scenario's for the future. Using the low IIASA scenario an atmospheric CO₂ concentration of 431 ppmv is simulated for 2030 AD. A sensitivity analysis shows the importance of different parameters and of human behaviour. Notwithstanding the large size of the biosphere fluxes, the atmospheric CO₂ concentration in the next century will be predominantly determined by the growth rate of fossil fuel consumption.     

Asthenospheric ice-load effects in a global dynamical-system model of the Pleistocene climate

In a previous dynamical model the late Cenozoic climate variations were simulated, taking into account free and forced variations of atmospheric carbon dioxide acting in concert with changes in global ice mass and the deep ocean thermal state, all under the influence of the known earth-orbital radiative changes. This model is now extended by adding another relevant variable, bedrock/asthenosphere depression, including its associated ice-calving effects. Within the context of this extended model we (1) demonstrate the main results of previous bedrock/ice sheet models in what we believe is the simplest possible manner, (2) show how these previous models can exhibit the mid-Pleistocene transition with the inclusion of CO₂ effects, (3) discuss the limitations of these previous bedrock models, and (4) illustrate the possibility of removing some of these limitations and accounting for further aspects of the paleoclimate record by using the full dynamical system that includes forced and free effects of CO₂, as well as effects of bedrock depression and Milankovitch forcing. As one example of a new possibility, with bedrock effects included in the full system we can obtain a solution characterized by irregularly spaced, intermittent episodes in which the behavior is dominated either by near-40 kyr period oscillations or by near-100 kyr periods (such as prevailed over the Pleistocene).     

Effects of solar radiation modification on the ocean carbon cycle: An earth system modeling study

Solar radiation modification (SRM, also termed as geoengineering) has been proposed as a potential option to counteract anthropogenic warming. The underlying idea of SRM is to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the atmosphere and surface, thus offsetting some amount of global warming. Here, the authors use an Earth system model to investigate the impact of SRM on the global carbon cycle and ocean biogeochemistry. The authors simulate the temporal evolution of global climate and the carbon cycle from the pre-industrial period to the end of this century under three scenarios: the RCP4.5 CO₂ emission pathway, the RCP8.5 CO₂ emission pathway, and the RCP8.5 CO₂ emission pathway with the implementation of SRM to maintain the global mean surface temperature at the level of RCP4.5. The simulations show that SRM, by altering global climate, also affects the global carbon cycle. Compared to the RCP8.5 simulation without SRM, by the year 2100, SRM reduces atmospheric CO₂ by 65 ppm mainly as a result of increased CO₂ uptake by the terrestrial biosphere. However, SRM-induced change in atmospheric CO₂ and climate has a small effect in mitigating ocean acidification. By the year 2100, relative to RCP8.5, SRM causes a decrease in surface ocean hydrogen ion concentration ([H⁺]) by 6% and attenuates the seasonal amplitude of [H⁺] by about 10%. The simulations also show that SRM has a small effect on globally integrated ocean net primary productivity relative to the high-CO₂ simulation without SRM. This study contributes to a comprehensive assessment of the effects of SRM on both the physical climate and the global carbon cycle.摘要太阳辐射干预地球工程是应对气候变化的备用应急措施. 其基本思路是通过减少到达大气和地表的太阳辐射, 从一定程度上抵消温室效应引起的全球变暖. 本研究使用地球系统模式模拟理想化太阳辐射干预方法对海洋碳循环的影响. 模拟试验中, 通过直接减少太阳辐射将RCP8.5 CO₂排放情景下的全球平均温度降低到RCP4.5情景下的温度. 模拟结果表明, 到2100年, 相对于RCP8.5情景, 减少太阳辐射通过增加陆地碳汇, 使大气CO₂浓度降低了65 ppm. 减少太阳辐射对海洋酸化影响很小. 到 2100 年, 相对于RCP8.5情景, 减少太阳辐射使海表平均氢离子浓度减少6%, pH上升0.03, 同时使海表平均氢离子浓度的季节变化振幅衰减约10%. 模拟结果还表明, 减少太阳辐射对全球海洋净初级生产力的影响较小. 本研究有助于深化我们对太阳辐射干预地球工程的气候和碳循环效应的认知和综合评估.     

Evaluation of ocean and climate models using present‐day observations and forcing

Abstract

The most common method used to evaluate climate models involves spinning them up under perpetual present‐day forcing and comparing the model results with present‐day observations. This approach clearly ignores any potential long‐term memory of the model ocean to past climatic conditions. Here we examine the validity of this approach through the 6000‐year integration of a coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea‐ice model. The coupled model is initially spun‐up with atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and orbital parameters applicable for 6KBP. The model is then integrated forward in time to 2100. Results from this transient coupled model simulation are compared with the results from two additional simulations, in which the model is spun up with perpetual 1850 (preindustrial) and 1998 (present‐day) atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and orbital parameters. This comparison leads to substantial differences between the equilibrium climatologies and the transient simulation, even at 1850 (in weakly ventilated regions), prior to any significant changes in atmospheric CO₂. When compared to the present‐day equilibrium climatology, differences are very large: the global mean surface air and sea surface temperatures are ,0.5°C and ,0.4°C colder, respectively, deep ocean temperatures are substantially cooler, Southern Hemisphere sea‐ice cover is 38% larger, and the North Atlantic conveyor 16% weaker in the transient case. These differences are due to the long timescale memory of the deep ocean to climatic conditions which prevailed throughout the late Holocene, as well as to its large thermal inertia. It is also demonstrated that a ‘cold start’ global warming simulation (one that starts from a 1998 equilibrium climatology) underestimates the global temperature increase at 2100 by ,10%. Our results question the accuracy of current techniques for climate model evaluation and underline the importance of using paleoclimatic simulations in parallel with present‐day simulations in this evaluation process.     

Future ocean uptake of CO2: interaction between ocean circulation and biology

We discuss the potential variations of the biological pump that can be expected from a change in the oceanic circulation in the ongoing global warming. The biogeochemical model is based on the assumption of a perfect stoichiometric composition (Redfield ratios) of organic material. Upwelling nutrients are transformed into organic particles that sink to the deep ocean according to observed profiles. The physical circulation model is driven by the warming pattern as derived from scenario computations of a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere model. The amplitude of the warming is determined from the varying concentration of atmospheric CO₂. The model predicts a pronounced weakening of the thermohaline overturning. This is connected with a reduction of the transient uptake capacity of the ocean. It yields also a more effective removal of organic material from the surface which partly compensates the physical effects of solubility. Both effects are rather marginal for the evolution of atmospheric pCO₂. Running climate models and carbon cycle models separately seems to be justified. Received: 9 August 1995 / Accepted: 22 April 1996     

太平洋海气CO2通量对气候事件的响应

应用一个嵌套了海洋生物地球化学循环的太平洋环流碳循环模式,分析了1960～2000年太平洋不同海区海气碳通量随时间的变化。模拟结果显示,赤道太平洋为大气CO₂的排放区,南、北太平洋(南、北纬15°至模式计算区域南、北边界)为吸收区。3个海区海气碳通量随时间均存在显著的波动,其中赤道太平洋海气碳通量年际波动最显著。3个海区海气碳通量年际波动对气候事件的响应并不一致,在El Niño年赤道太平洋冷舌的强度和总溶解无机碳(DIC)的浓度以及输出生产力均会受到上升流减弱的影响而降低,La Niña年这些海气碳通量控制要素的分布情况则正好相反,但在南北太平洋副热带以及高纬度海区,El Niño和La Niña对这些要素带来的影响却并不一定相反,对输出生产力的影响甚至是一致的。以海表温度(SST)为例考察海气碳通量与物理场之间的关系表明,在赤道太平洋上升流对DIC的影响是控制海气碳通量变化的主要因素,而在其他海区,尤其是副热带海区,由于垂直运动的年际变化较小,且生物生产力水平较低,SST的波动对海气碳通量年际变化的影响更加重要。     

Millennial timescale carbon cycle and climate change in an efficient Earth system model

A new Earth system model, GENIE-1, is presented which comprises a 3-D frictional geostrophic ocean, phosphate-restoring marine biogeochemistry, dynamic and thermodynamic sea-ice, land surface physics and carbon cycling, and a seasonal 2-D energy-moisture balance atmosphere. Three sets of model climate parameters are used to explore the robustness of the results and for traceability to earlier work. The model versions have climate sensitivity of 2.8–3.3°C and predict atmospheric CO₂ close to present observations. Six idealized total fossil fuel CO₂ emissions scenarios are used to explore a range of 1,100–15,000 GtC total emissions and the effect of rate of emissions. Atmospheric CO₂ approaches equilibrium in year 3000 at 420–5,660 ppmv, giving 1.5–12.5°C global warming. The ocean is a robust carbon sink of up to 6.5 GtC year⁻¹. Under ‘business as usual’, the land becomes a carbon source around year 2100 which peaks at up to 2.5 GtC year⁻¹. Soil carbon is lost globally, boreal vegetation generally increases, whilst under extreme forcing, dieback of some tropical and sub-tropical vegetation occurs. Average ocean surface pH drops by up to 1.15 units. A Greenland ice sheet melt threshold of 2.6°C local warming is only briefly exceeded if total emissions are limited to 1,100 GtC, whilst 15,000 GtC emissions cause complete Greenland melt by year 3000, contributing 7 m to sea level rise. Total sea-level rise, including thermal expansion, is 0.4–10 m in year 3000 and ongoing. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation shuts down in two out of three model versions, but only under extreme emissions including exotic fossil fuel resources.     

The atmospheric carbon dioxide response to oceanic primary productivity fluctuations

Data on the rate of primary production, the rate of sinking and oxidation of organic detritus, the rate of regeneration of calcium carbonate, the average rate of vertical mixing, and the vertical profile of dissolved carbon are consistent with a model of the ocean in which the downward transport of carbon by the sinking and oxidation of organic particulate matter is balanced by upward hydrodynamic mixing of dissolved inorganic carbon. A time dependent version of this model is used to make rough estimates of the effect of periodic and impulsive changes in the rate of primary production on the atmospheric CO₂ concentration. The computations suggest that a 1% decrease in marine biospheric productivity could result in a steady state increase of the atmospheric CO₂ concentration of from 0.5 to 2.5% depending on the rate of vertical mixing. Large but short term fluctuations in productivity, such as a die-off of the marine biosphere followed by an exponential recovery period, are estimated to produce smaller perturbations.Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-ENG-48.