Can a strong atmospheric CO₂ rectifier effect be reconciled with a “reasonable” carbon budget?: KEYNOTE PERSPECTIVE

Authors: DENNING, A. SCOTT; TAKAHASHI, TARO.¹; FRIEDLINGSTEIN, PIERRE²

Source: Tellus B, Volume 51, Number 2, April 1999 , pp. 249-253(5)

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Abstract:

Atmospheric CO₂ accumulates near the Earth's surface because of relatively deeper vertical mixing when photosynthesis is active than when it is not. Some models simulate an excess of more than 2.5 ppmv CO₂ in the remote Northern Hemisphere due to this ``rectification'′ of an annually balanced terrestrial carbon cycle. The covariance between CO₂ flux and vertical mixing, and the resulting vertical structure of CO₂ are generally consistent with field data at local scales, but it is difficult to reconcile such a strong rectifier signal with current ideas about the global carbon budget. A rectifier effect of 2.5 ppmv at northern flask sampling stations implies an unreasonably strong northern sink of atmospheric CO₂, and a corresponding source in the tropics or Southern Hemisphere.

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0889.1999.t01-1-00010.x

Affiliations: 1: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA; 2: LCSE Unite Mixte CEA-CNRS 91191, Gif sur Yvette, France

Publication date: 1999-04-01