Ocean carbon uptake under aggressive emission mitigation

Ridge, Sean M.; McKinley, Galen A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2711-2021

Articles | Volume 18, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2711-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2711-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 8

Research article

|

30 Apr 2021

Research article |

| 30 Apr 2021

Ocean carbon uptake under aggressive emission mitigation

Sean M. Ridge and Galen A. McKinley

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2711-2021-supplement

Data sets

The Community Earth System Model (CESM) Large Ensemble Project: A Community Resource for Studying Climate Change in the Presence of Internal Climate Variability (https://www.earthsystemgrid.org/) J. E. Kay, C. Deser, A. Phillips, A. Mai, C. Hannay, G. Strand, J. M. Arblaster, S. C. Bates, G. Danabasoglu, J. Edwards, M. Holland, P. Kushner, J.-F. Lamarque, D. Lawrence, K. Lindsay, A. Middleton, E. Munoz, R. Neale, K. Oleson, L. Polvani, and M. Vertenstein https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00255.1

A new ensemble of GCM simulations to assess avoided impacts in a climate mitigation scenario (https://www.earthsystemgrid.org/) B. M. Sanderson, K. W. Oleson, W. G. Strand, F. Lehner, and B. C. O'Neill https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1567-z

Community climate simulations to assess avoided impacts in 1.5 and 2 °C futures (https://www.earthsystemgrid.org/) B. M. Sanderson, Y. Xu, C. Tebaldi, M. Wehner, B. O'Neill, A. Jahn, A. G. Pendergrass, F. Lehner, W. G. Strand, L. Lin, R. Knutti, and J. F. Lamarque https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-827-2017

Model code and software

sridge/qoccm: Latest Release (Version 0.1) S. M. Ridge and G. A. McKinley https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4718674

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Short summary

Approximately 40 % of the CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production have been absorbed by the ocean. The goal of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement is to reduce humanity's emissions so as to limit global warming to no more than 2 °C, and ideally less than 1.5 °C. If we achieve this level of mitigation, the ocean's uptake of carbon will be strongly reduced. Excess carbon trapped in the near-surface ocean will begin to mix back to the surface and will limit additional uptake.