Managing atmospheric CO2

Abstract

A coupled carbon cycle-climate model is used to compute global atmospheric CO2 and temperature variation that would result from several future CO2 emission scenarios. The model includes temperature and CO2 feedbacks on the terrestrial biosphere, and temperature feedback on the oceanic uptake of CO2. The scenarios used include cases in which fossil fuel CO2 emissions are held constant at the 1986 value or increase by 1% yr−1 until either 2000 or 2020, followed by a gradual transition to a rate of decrease of 1 or 2% yr−1. The climatic effect of increases in non-CO2 trace gases is included, and scenarios are considered in which these gases increase until 2075 or are stabilized once CO2 emission reductions begin. Low and high deforestation scenarios are also considered. In all cases, results are computed for equilibrium climatic sensitivities to CO2 doubling of 2.0 and 4.0 °C. Peak atmospheric CO2 concentrations of 400–500 ppmv and global mean warming after 1980 of 0.6–3.2 °C occur, with maximum rates of global mean warming of 0.2–0.3 °C decade−1. The peak CO2 concentrations in these scenarios are significantly below that commonly regarded as unavoidable; further sensitivity analyses suggest that limiting atmospheric CO2 to as little as 400 ppmv is a credible option. Two factors in the model are important in limiting atmospheric CO2: (1) the airborne fraction falls rapidly once emissions begin to decrease, so that total emissions (fossil fuel + land use-induced) need initially fall to only about half their present value in order to stabilize atmospheric CO2, and (2) changes in rates of deforestation have an immediate and proportional effect on gross emissions from the biosphere, whereas the CO2 sink due to regrowth of forests responds more slowly, so that decreases in the rate of deforestation have a disproportionately large effect on net emission. If fossil fuel emissions were to decrease at 1–2% yr−1 beginning early in the next century, emissions could decrease to the rate of CO2 uptake by the predominantly oceanic sink within 50–100 yrs. Simulation results suggest that if subsequent emission reductions were tied to the rate of CO2 uptake by natural CO2 sinks, these reductions could proceed more slowly than initially while preventing further CO2 increases, since the natural CO2 sink strength decreases on time scales of one to several centuries. The model used here does not account for the possible effect on atmospheric CO2 concentration of possible changes in oceanic circulation. Based on past rates of atmospheric CO2 variation determined from polar ice cores, it appears that the largest plausible perturbation in ocean-air CO2 flux due to changes of oceanic circulation is substantially smaller than the permitted fossil fuel CO2 emissions under the above strategy, so tieing fossil fuel emissions to the total sink strength could provide adequate flexibility for responding to unexpected changes in oceanic CO2 uptake caused by climatic warming-induced changes of oceanic circulation.