Abstract
Human activities are changing the Arctic environment at an unprecedented rate resulting in rapid warming, freshening, sea ice retreat and ocean acidification of the Arctic Ocean. Trace gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) play important roles in both the atmospheric reactivity and radiative budget of the Arctic and thus have a high potential to influence the region’s climate. However, little is known about how these rapid physical and chemical changes will impact the emissions of major climate-relevant trace gases from the Arctic Ocean. The combined consequences of these stressors present a complex combination of environmental changes which might impact on trace gas production and their subsequent release to the Arctic atmosphere. Here we present our current understanding of nitrous oxide and methane cycling in the Arctic Ocean and its relevance for regional and global atmosphere and climate and offer our thoughts on how this might change over coming decades.
Highlights
The Earth’s polar regions are rapidly changing as a direct result of our altered climate
Environmental effects associated with a changing climate, which include rising temperatures, oxygen depletion and ocean acidification are quite likely to impact the level of this equilibrium (Bange et al 2019)
CH4 acts to limit the tropospheric oxidative capacity and is the second most important greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential that exceeds CO2 by up to 32 times over a 100-year timescale (Etminan et al 2016; Canadell et al 2021), contributing approximately 20% of the radiative climate forcing for all GHGs
Summary
The Earth’s polar regions are rapidly changing as a direct result of our altered climate. Environmental effects associated with a changing climate, which include rising temperatures, oxygen depletion and ocean acidification are quite likely to impact the level of this equilibrium (Bange et al 2019).
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