Publication Abstracts

Fung 1993

Fung, I., 1993: Models of oceanic and terrestrial sinks of anthropogenic CO2: A review of the contemporary carbon cycle. In Biogeochemistry of Global Change: Radiatively Active Trace Gases. R. Oremland, Ed., Chapman & Hall, pp. 166-189.

The atmospheric increase of carbon dioxide in the 1980s represents only ∼57% of the release from fossil-fuel combustion. A balanced budget thus requires the CO2 sinks to remove 2.5-5.0 GtC/yr, an amount equal to 43% of the fossil fuel plus 100% of the deforestation inputs. Oceanic uptake estimated directly from data on air-sea differences in the partial pressures of CO2 is ∼1.6 GtC/yr; uncertainties in this estimate due to inadequate sampling both in time and space are difficult to quantify. Ocean models yield oceanic sink strengths ∼30% of the fossil-fuel inputs alone, implying a significant net terrestrial sink. Interhemispheric gradient of CO2 in the atmosphere points to a Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes sink, whereas deconvolution of the historical records suggests that the sink has been operative for the past 50 years. Although isotopic data can provide potentially powerful constraints on the partitioning of the CO2 sink between land and sea, the conclusions are highly dependent on the del13C value of the respired CO2. Understanding ecosystem dynamics with turnover times of 10-100 years is, thus, tantamount.

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BibTeX Citation

@inbook{fu01100t,
  author={Fung, I.},
  editor={Oremland, R.},
  title={Models of oceanic and terrestrial sinks of anthropogenic CO2: A review of the contemporary carbon cycle},
  booktitle={Biogeochemistry of Global Change: Radiatively Active Trace Gases},
  year={1993},
  pages={166--189},
  publisher={Chapman & Hall},
  address={New York, N.Y.},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - CHAP
ID  - fu01100t
AU  - Fung, I.
ED  - Oremland, R.
PY  - 1993
TI  - Models of oceanic and terrestrial sinks of anthropogenic CO2: A review of the contemporary carbon cycle
BT  - Biogeochemistry of Global Change: Radiatively Active Trace Gases
SP  - 166
EP  - 189
PB  - Chapman & Hall
CY  - New York, N.Y.
ER  -

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