Abstract
Abstract. To understand the Korean Peninsula's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and sinks as well as those of the surrounding region, we used 70 flask-air samples collected during May 2014 to August 2016 at Anmyeondo (AMY; 36.53∘ N, 126.32∘ E; 46 m a.s.l.) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station, located on the west coast of South Korea, for analysis of observed 14C in atmospheric CO2 as a tracer of fossil fuel CO2 contribution (Cff). Observed 14C ∕ C ratios in CO2 (reported as Δ values) at AMY varied from −59.5 ‰ to 23.1 ‰, with a measurement uncertainty of ±1.8 ‰. The derived mean value Cff of (9.7±7.8) µmol mol−1 (1σ) is greater than that found in earlier observations from Tae-Ahn Peninsula (TAP; 36.73∘ N, 126.13∘ E; 20 m a.s.l., 28 km away from AMY) of (4.4±5.7) µmol mol−1 from 2004 to 2010. The enhancement above background mole fractions of sulfur hexafluoride (Δx(SF6)) and carbon monoxide (Δx(CO)) correlate strongly with Cff (r>0.7) and appear to be good proxies for fossil fuel CO2 at regional and continental scales. Samples originating from the Asian continent had greater Δx(CO) : Cff(RCO) values, (29±8) to (36±2) nmol µmol−1, than in Korean Peninsula local air ((8±2) nmol µmol−1). Air masses originating in China showed (1.6±0.4) to (2.0±0.1) times greater RCO than a bottom-up inventory, suggesting that China's CO emissions are underestimated in the inventory, while observed RSF6 values are 2–3 times greater than inventories for both China and South Korea. However, RCO values derived from both inventories and observations have decreased relative to previous studies, indicating that combustion efficiency is increasing in both China and South Korea.
Highlights
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principle cause of climate change in the industrial era and has been increasing in the atmosphere at (2.4 ± 0.4) μmol mol−1 a−1 in the past decade globally
This study showed that observed CO2 at this site was often influenced by Chinese emissions, and the observed ratio of x(CO) : Cff (RCO) was greater than expected from bottom-up inventories
Regardless of the source, we find that Cbio contributes substantially to atmospheric CO2 enhancements at AMY in air masses affected by local and long-range transport, so when only CO2 enhancements above background are compared to bottom-up inventories, it can create a bias due to Cbio contributions
Summary
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principle cause of climate change in the industrial era and has been increasing in the atmosphere at (2.4 ± 0.4) μmol mol−1 a−1 in the past decade globally (where 0.4 is the standard deviation of annual growth rates; http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/ trends/, last access: 6 December 2019). This increase is by release of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion that has been demonstrated through 14C analysis of tree rings from the last two centuries (Stuiver and Quay, 1981; Suess, 1955; Tans et al, 1979). Measurements of (14CO2) are important to test the effectiveness of emission reduction strategies to mitigate the rapid atmospheric CO2 increase, since they can partition observed CO2 enhancements, x(CO2), into fossil fuel CO2 (Cff) and biological CO2 (Cbio) components with high confidence (Turnbull et al, 2006)
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