The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate Change

Abstract Arctic shelf seas are highly heterogeneous, making it difficult to accurately account for their role in regional and global air‐sea CO2 exchange budgets. Here we estimate the CO2 sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) based on empirical relationships that account for spatiotemporal v...

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Main Authors: Mohamed Ahmed, Brent G. T. Else
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019-08-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083547
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author Mohamed Ahmed
Brent G. T. Else
author_facet Mohamed Ahmed
Brent G. T. Else
author_sort Mohamed Ahmed
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Arctic shelf seas are highly heterogeneous, making it difficult to accurately account for their role in regional and global air‐sea CO2 exchange budgets. Here we estimate the CO2 sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) based on empirical relationships that account for spatiotemporal variations in the sea surface partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2sw) as a function of seasonal sea ice cycles. During the open water season from 2010 to 2016, the CAA acted as a net oceanic sink with an average CO2 flux of −7.7 ± 4 Tg C/year. This sink is significantly smaller than previous estimates for the CAA, emphasizing the importance of properly accounting for seasonal and spatial variability on Arctic shelves. Applying our analysis to a 37‐year record of sea ice conditions, we calculate an increase in the open water CO2 sink by ~150% (a trend of ~ −1.3 Tg C/decade), associated with sea ice loss and higher wind speeds.
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spelling doaj-art-cee636f1326441dcb90a922eec9c5db62025-08-20T03:13:22ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072019-08-0146169777978510.1029/2019GL083547The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate ChangeMohamed Ahmed0Brent G. T. Else1Geography Department University of Calgary Calgary Alberta CanadaGeography Department University of Calgary Calgary Alberta CanadaAbstract Arctic shelf seas are highly heterogeneous, making it difficult to accurately account for their role in regional and global air‐sea CO2 exchange budgets. Here we estimate the CO2 sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) based on empirical relationships that account for spatiotemporal variations in the sea surface partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2sw) as a function of seasonal sea ice cycles. During the open water season from 2010 to 2016, the CAA acted as a net oceanic sink with an average CO2 flux of −7.7 ± 4 Tg C/year. This sink is significantly smaller than previous estimates for the CAA, emphasizing the importance of properly accounting for seasonal and spatial variability on Arctic shelves. Applying our analysis to a 37‐year record of sea ice conditions, we calculate an increase in the open water CO2 sink by ~150% (a trend of ~ −1.3 Tg C/decade), associated with sea ice loss and higher wind speeds.https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083547air‐sea CO2 fluxsea iceCanadian Arctic ArchipelagoArctic Ocean sinkArctic shelvesmodeling
spellingShingle Mohamed Ahmed
Brent G. T. Else
The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate Change
Geophysical Research Letters
air‐sea CO2 flux
sea ice
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Arctic Ocean sink
Arctic shelves
modeling
title The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate Change
title_full The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate Change
title_fullStr The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate Change
title_full_unstemmed The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate Change
title_short The Ocean CO2 Sink in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: A Present‐Day Budget and Past Trends Due to Climate Change
title_sort ocean co2 sink in the canadian arctic archipelago a present day budget and past trends due to climate change
topic air‐sea CO2 flux
sea ice
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Arctic Ocean sink
Arctic shelves
modeling
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083547
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