Abstract
Seasonal climatology of air–sea CO2 exchange was estimated from in situ sea surface CO2 partial pressure, temperature, salinity, and satellite wind data obtained from 2004 to 2011 in the southern region of the California Current, off the Baja California Peninsula (Mexico). The average annual CO2 flux indicates that the study area is a source of CO2 to the atmosphere (0.65 mmol m–2 d–1). It changes from being a source in summer (2.33 mmol m–2 d–1) and autumn (0.92 mmol m–2 d–1) to acting as a sink in winter (–0.26 mmol m–2 d–1) and spring (–0.37 mmol m–2 d–1). The area to the north of latitud 28ºN (off Punta Eugenia) is a CO2 sink (–0.42 mmol m–2 d–1), whereas the area to the south of this latitude is a source of CO2 to the atmosphere (1.80 mmol m–2 d–1), mostly due to thermodynamic effects. The northern coastal zone is a permanent CO2 sink (–1.29 mmol m–2 d–1). During the 2004 El Niño event the whole area contributed 2.00 mmol m–2 d–1 of CO2 to the atmosphere, but during the 2011 La Niña the ocean absorbed 5.30 mmol m–2 d–1 as a result of physical and biological dynamics. The seasonalcycle is dominated by temperature rather than biological effects, except in the northern coastal area. It is necessary to continue with in situ measurements of the CO2 system to have solid foundations to estimate the effect of the long-term increase in dissolved inorganic carbon onmarine organisms.
Highlights
Over the past 2 centuries human activities have increased the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere by ~400 petagrams (1 Pg = 1015 g), that is, by ~40% (Zeebe 2012)
In this paper we present an analysis of parcial de CO2 (pCO2) and FCO2 calculated with in situ data from 22 oceanographic cruises
The Pacific Ocean off the Baja California Peninsula presents high spatial and temporal variability caused mainly by the physical dynamics derived from changes in the intensity of flow of the California Current (Durazo and Baumgartner 2002); coastal upwelling events (Pérez-Brunius et al 2007); the presence of fronts, meanders, and eddies (Barocio-León et al 2007); and seasonal and interannual variability (Aguirre-Hernández et al 2004, Gaxiola-Castro et al 2008)
Summary
Over the past 2 centuries human activities have increased the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere by ~400 petagrams (1 Pg = 1015 g), that is, by ~40% (Zeebe 2012). Atmospheric CO2 content has changed from 280 atm before the industrial revolution to 407 atm in recent times (NOAA 2016), and could reach 850 atm in 2100 (HoeghGuldberg et al 2014). El contenido de CO2 atmosférico ha cambiado de 280 atm antes de la revolución industrial a 407 atm en tiempos recientes (NOAA 2016), y puede llegar a 850 atm en el año 2100 CO2 emitted through human activities (Takahashi et al 2009), but the absorption rate is not high enough to prevent the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Since CO2 is a greenhouse gas, global mean temperature has risen by 0.85 oC and an increase of ~4 oC relative to the global mean estimated from 1980 to 1999 has been reported for 2100 (IPCC 2014)
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