An increasing CO2 sink in the Arctic Ocean due to sea-ice loss

Bates, Nicholas R., Moran, S. Bradley, Hansell, Dennis A. and Mathis, Jeremy T. (2006) An increasing CO2 sink in the Arctic Ocean due to sea-ice loss. Geophysical Research Letters, 33 (23), L23609. (doi:10.1029/2006GL027028).

Abstract

The Arctic Ocean and adjacent continental shelf seas such as the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas are particularly sensitive to long-term change and low-frequency modes of atmosphere-ocean-sea-ice forcing. The cold, low salinity surface waters of the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean are undersaturated with respect to CO₂ in the atmosphere and the region has the potential to take up atmospheric CO₂, although presently suppressed by sea-ice cover. Undersaturated seawater CO₂ conditions of the Arctic Ocean are maintained by export of water with low dissolved inorganic carbon content and modified by intense seasonal shelf primary production. Sea-ice extent and volume in the Arctic Ocean has decreased over the last few decades, and we estimate that the Arctic Ocean sink for CO₂ has tripled over the last 3 decades (24 Tg yr^-1 to 66 Tg yr^-1) due to sea-ice retreat with future sea-ice melting enhancing air-to-sea CO₂ flux by ~28% per decade.

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