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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 15, 1809, doi:10.1029/2003GL016889, 2003

Ocean primary production and climate: Global decadal changes

Watson W. Gregg

Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, USA

Margarita E. Conkright

Ocean Climate Laboratory, NOAA/National Oceanographic Data Center, USA

Paul Ginoux

NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, USA

John E. O'Reilly

NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service, USA

Nancy W. Casey

Science Systems and Applications, Inc., USA

Abstract

Satellite-in situ blended ocean chlorophyll records indicate that global ocean annual primary production has declined more than 6% since the early 1980's. Nearly 70% of the global decadal decline occurred in the high latitudes. In the northern high latitudes, these reductions in primary production corresponded with increases in sea surface temperature and decreases in atmospheric iron deposition to the oceans. In the Antarctic, the reductions were accompanied by increased wind stress. Three of four low latitude basins exhibited decadal increases in annual primary production. These results indicate that ocean photosynthetic uptake of carbon may be changing as a result of climatic changes and suggest major implications for the global carbon cycle.

Received 7 January 2003; accepted 21 May 2003; published 9 August 2003.

Index Terms: 4215 Oceanography: General: Climate and interannual variability (3309); 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 1635 Global Change: Oceans (4203); 4806 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Carbon cycling.

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Citation: Gregg, W. W., M. E. Conkright, P. Ginoux, J. E. O'Reilly, and N. W. Casey (2003), Ocean primary production and climate: Global decadal changes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(15), 1809, doi:10.1029/2003GL016889.

Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.