Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Fassbender, Andrea J.
• Sabine, Christopher L.
• Palevsky, Hilary I.

Titel

Nonuniform ocean acidification and attenuation of the ocean carbon sink

Ist Teil von

• Geophysical research letters, 2017-08, Vol.44 (16), p.8404-8413

Ort / Verlag

Washington: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Quelle

Wiley Online Library Journals Frontfile Complete

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Surface ocean carbon chemistry is changing rapidly. Partial pressures of carbon dioxide gas (pCO2) are rising, pH levels are declining, and the ocean's buffer capacity is eroding. Regional differences in short‐term pH trends primarily have been attributed to physical and biological processes; however, heterogeneous seawater carbonate chemistry may also be playing an important role. Here we use Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas Version 4 data to develop 12 month gridded climatologies of carbonate system variables and explore the coherent spatial patterns of ocean acidification and attenuation in the ocean carbon sink caused by rising atmospheric pCO2. High‐latitude regions exhibit the highest pH and buffer capacity sensitivities to pCO2 increases, while the equatorial Pacific is uniquely insensitive due to a newly defined aqueous CO2 concentration effect. Importantly, dissimilar regional pH trends do not necessarily equate to dissimilar acidity ([H+]) trends, indicating that [H+] is a more useful metric of acidification. Key Points Chemical thermodynamics imparts a coherent spatial pattern of carbonate chemistry responses to anthropogenic carbon accumulation Nonuniform ocean acidification is anticipated with rising sea surface pCO2 The use of [H+] trends rather than pH trends is necessary to accurately decipher regional differences in ocean acidity change