Observing the Arctic Ocean carbon cycle in a changing environment

Abstract

Climate warming is especially pronounced in the Arctic, which has led to decreased sea-ice coverage and substantial permafrost thawing. These changes have a profound impact on the carbon cycle that directly affects the air–sea exchange of carbon dioxide (CO₂), possibly leading to substantial feedback on atmospheric CO₂ concentration. Several recent studies have indicated such feedback but the future quantitative impact is very uncertain. To minimize these uncertainties, there is a need for extensive field studies in order to achieve both a better process understanding as well as to detect probable trends in these processes. In this contribution, we describe a number of processes that have been reported to be impacted by climate change and suggest a coordinated international observational programme for their study.

• Ocean time series
• international coordination
• climate change.

Acknowledgements

This contribution is based on results achieved with financial support to LGA from the EU FP7 project Changes in Carbon Uptake and Emissions by Oceans in a Changing Climate, which received funding from the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no. 264879, and from the Swedish Research Council (contract no 621-2010-4084). RWM is grateful for support under the Canadian International Polar Year programme and ArcticNet, both of which have provided opportunities to sample and understand the Arctic Ocean's carbon cycle. We are grateful for valuable comments by Are Olsen and one anonymous reviewer.