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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 30, NO. 24,
2249,
doi:10.1029/2003GL018458,
2003
Offsetting the radiative benefit of ocean iron fertilization by enhancing N2O emissions
Xin Jin
IGPP and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Nicolas Gruber
IGPP and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Abstract
Ocean iron fertilization is being considered as a strategy for mitigating the buildup of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere. Assessment of this strategy requires consideration of its unintended consequences, such as an enhancement
of ocean N2O emissions. This feedback could offset the radiative benefit from the atmospheric CO2 reduction significantly, because N2O is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2 itself. Our model results show that the magnitude of this offsetting effect is substantial, but is highly dependent on the
location and duration of fertilization. We find the largest offsets (of the order of 100%) when fertilization is undertaken
in the tropics, particularly when it is of limited duration and size. Smaller, but still substantial effects are found when
fertilization is undertaken elsewhere and over longer periods. These results suggest that any assessment of ocean fertilization
as a mitigating option is incomplete without consideration of the N2O feedback.
Received 19
August
2003;
accepted 4
November
2003;
published 18
December
2003.
Index Terms: 4805 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Biogeochemical cycles (1615); 4842 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Modeling; 4806 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Carbon cycling; 4808 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Chemical tracers; 3359 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Radiative processes.
Read Full Article (file size: 492885 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Jin, X., and N. Gruber
(2003),
Offsetting the radiative benefit of ocean iron fertilization by enhancing N2O emissions,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
30(24),
2249,
doi:10.1029/2003GL018458.
Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.
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