A Preliminary Review of Global CO2 Exchange Between Ocean and Atmosphere
Abstract
Although the present rate of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere is well documented, changes in the next century cannot be accurately predicted because the CO2 budget is so poorly understood. The atmospheric concentration is increasing 1.4 ppm/year, corresponding to an increase in the atmospheric inventory of 3 Gt/year (1 Gt is 10 to the 9th power metric tons or 10 to the 12th power kg). This observed increase is less than half of the estimated 8.7 Gt/year released by all sources to the atmosphere. Most of the residual has been assumed to enter the ocean. This cannot be verified directly, however, since the total dissolved inorganic CO2 in the ocean is so much larger than the cumulative release of fossil fuel since 1850 that the change due to fossil fuel is small compared to natural variability. As a result, global CO2 budgets are attempted by calculating the fluxes between ocean and atmosphere and between land and atmosphere.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 08, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA264019
Entities
People
- M. Gregg
- Russ E. Davis
Organizations
- MITRE Corporation