Continental shelves as a variable but increasing global sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide
Open accessAbstract
Abstract It has been speculated that the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) in shelf waters may lag the rise in atmospheric CO2. Here, we show that this is the case across many shelf regions, implying a tendency for enhanced shelf uptake of atmospheric CO2. This result is based on analysis of long-term trends in the air–sea pCO2 gradient (ΔpCO2) using a global surface ocean pCO2 database spanning a period of up to 35 years. Using wintertime data only, we find that ΔpCO2 increased in 653 of the 825 0.5° cells for which a trend could be calculated, with 325 of these cells showing a significant increase in excess of +0.5 μatm yr−1 (p < 0.05). Although noisier, the deseasonalized annual data suggest similar results. If this were a global trend, it would support the idea that shelves might have switched from a source to a sink of CO2 during the last century.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Takahashi, T., Sutherland, S. C., Wanninkhof, R. H., Sweeney, C., Feely, R. A., Chipman, D. W., Hales, B., Friederich, G., Chavez, F., Sabine, C., et al. (2008) · Deep Sea Research Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography · doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.12.009 · Cited by 2,382 · see citing works
The changing carbon cycle of the coastal ocean
Bauer, J. E., Cai, W., Raymond, P. A., Bianchi, T. S., HOPKINSON, C. S., & Regnier, P. A. G. (2013) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature12857 · Cited by 1,776 · see citing works
Self-citationEvidence for Upwelling of Corrosive "Acidified" Water onto the Continental Shelf
Feely, R. A., Sabine, C. L., Hernández‐Ayón, J. M., Ianson, D., & Hales, B. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1155676 · Cited by 1,459 · see citing works
Anthropogenic perturbation of the carbon fluxes from land to ocean
Regnier, P. A. G., Friedlingstein, P., Ciais, P., Mackenzie, F. T., Gruber, N., Janssens, I. A., Laruelle, G. G., Lauerwald, R., Luyssaert, S., Andersson, A. J., et al. (2013) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/ngeo1830 · Cited by 1,374 · see citing works
Self-citationEstuarine and Coastal Ocean Carbon Paradox: CO 2 Sinks or Sites of Terrestrial Carbon Incineration?
Cai, W. (2010) · Annual Review of Marine Science · doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-120709-142723 · Cited by 863 · see citing works
Self-citationBakker, D. C. E., Pfeil, B., Landa, C. S., Metzl, N., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Smith, K., Cosca, C., Harasawa, S., Jones, S. D., et al. (2016) · Earth System Science Data · doi:10.5194/essd-8-383-2016 · Cited by 681 · see citing works
Self-citationBudgeting sinks and sources of CO2 in the coastal ocean: Diversity of ecosystems counts
Borges, A. V., Delille, B., & Frankignoulle, M. (2005) · Geophysical Research Letters · doi:10.1029/2005gl023053 · Cited by 648 · see citing works
Energy exchange and water budget partitioning in a boreal minerogenic mire
Peichl, M., Sagerfors, J., Lindroth, A., Buffam, I. D., Grelle, A., Klemedtsson, L., Laudon, H., & Nilsson, M. B. (2012) · Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences · doi:10.1029/2012jg002073 · Cited by 570 · see citing works
Decadal variations and trends of the global ocean carbon sink
Landschützer, P., Gruber, N., & Bakker, D. C. E. (2016) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1002/2015gb005359 · Cited by 545 · see citing works
Self-citationBates, N. R., Astor, Y., Church, M. J., Currie, K., Dore, J. E., González‐Dávila, M., Lorenzoni, L., Muller-Karger, F. E., Ólafsson, J., & Santa-Casiano, M. (2014) · Oceanography · doi:10.5670/oceanog.2014.16 · Cited by 534 · see citing works
Enhanced Open Ocean Storage of CO 2 from Shelf Sea Pumping
Thomas, H., Bozec, Y., Elkalay, K., & de Baar, H. J. W. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1095491 · Cited by 527 · see citing works
The reinvigoration of the Southern Ocean carbon sink
Landschützer, P., Gruber, N., Haumann, F. A., Rödenbeck, C., Bakker, D. C. E., van Heuven, S. M. A. C., Hoppema, M., Metzl, N., Sweeney, C., Takahashi, T., et al. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aab2620 · Cited by 490 · see citing works
Self-citationIntensification and spatial homogenization of coastal upwelling under climate change
Wang, D., Gouhier, T. C., Menge, B. A., & Ganguly, A. R. (2015) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature14235 · Cited by 447 · see citing works
Rapid Progression of Ocean Acidification in the California Current System
Gruber, N., Hauri, C., Lachkar, Z., Loher, D., Frölicher, T. L., & Plattner, G. (2012) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1216773 · Cited by 422 · see citing works
Self-citationGlobal ocean carbon uptake: magnitude, variability and trends
Wanninkhof, R. H., Park, G.-H., Takahashi, T., Sweeney, C., Feely, R. A., Nojiri, Y., Gruber, N., Doney, S. C., McKinley, G. A., Lenton, A. A., et al. (2013) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-10-1983-2013 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
Self-citationAir–sea exchanges of CO 2 in the world's coastal seas
Chen, C. A., Huang, T., Chen, Y.-C., Bai, Y., He, X., & Kang, Y. C. (2013) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-10-6509-2013 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
Air‐sea exchange of carbon dioxide in ocean margins: A province‐based synthesis
Cai, W., Dai, M., & Wang, Y. (2006) · Geophysical Research Letters · doi:10.1029/2006gl026219 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Self-citationLaruelle, G. G., Dürr, H. H., Slomp, C. P., et al. (2010) · Geophysical Research Letters · doi:10.1029/2010gl043691 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
Self-citationOn the Nature of Continental Shelves
(1988) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/c2013-0-11665-0 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Regionalized global budget of the CO 2 exchange at the air‐water interface in continental shelf seas
Laruelle, G. G., Lauerwald, R., Pfeil, B., & Regnier, P. A. G. (2014) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1002/2014gb004832 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
Self-citationGulf Stream frontal eddy influence on productivity of the southeast U.S. continental shelf
Lee, T. N., Yoder, J. A., & Atkinson, L. P. (1991) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/91jc02450 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Laruelle, G. G., Dürr, H. H., Lauerwald, R., Hartmann, J., Slomp, C. P., Goossens, N., & Regnier, P. A. G. (2013) · Hydrology and earth system sciences · doi:10.5194/hess-17-2029-2013 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Self-citationA Multiyear Global Surface Wind Velocity Dataset Using SSM/I Wind Observations
Atlas, R. M., Hoffman, R. N., Bloom, S. C., Jusem, J. C., & Ardizzone, J. V. (1996) · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · doi:10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Chemical and biological impacts of ocean acidification along the west coast of North America
Feely, R. A., Alin, S. R., Carter, B. R., Bednaršek, N., Hales, B., Chan, F., Hill, T. M., Gaylord, B., Sanford, E., Byrne, R. H., et al. (2016) · Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science · doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2016.08.043 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Decadal variability of the air‐sea CO 2 fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean
Feely, R. A., Takahashi, T., Wanninkhof, R. H., McPhaden, M. J., Cosca, C. E., Sutherland, S. C., & Carr, M. (2006) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2005jc003129 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Global trends in surface ocean pCO2 from in situ data
Fay, A. R., & McKinley, G. A. (2013) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1002/gbc.20051 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Timescales for detection of trends in the ocean carbon sink
McKinley, G. A., Pilcher, D. J., Fay, A. R., et al. (2016) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature16958 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Air‐sea CO 2 fluxes on the U.S. South Atlantic Bight: Spatial and seasonal variability
Jiang, L., Cai, W., Wanninkhof, R. H., Wang, Y., & Lüger, H. (2008) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2007jc004366 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Self-citationLaruelle, G. G., Landschützer, P., Gruber, N., et al. (2017) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-14-4545-2017 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Self-citationCoastal-ocean uptake of anthropogenic carbon
Bourgeois, T., Orr, J. C., Resplandy, L., Terhaar, J., Éthé, C., Gehlen, M., & Bopp, L. (2016) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-13-4167-2016 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Satellite-based prediction of pCO2 in coastal waters of the eastern North Pacific
Hales, B., Strutton, P. G., Saraceno, M., Letelier, R. M., Takahashi, T., Feely, R. A., Sabine, C. L., & Chávez, F. P. (2012) · Progress In Oceanography · doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2012.03.001 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Surface ocean p CO2 seasonality and sea-air CO2 flux estimates for the North American east coast
Signorini, S. R., Mannino, A., Najjar, R. G., et al. (2013) · Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans · doi:10.1002/jgrc.20369 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Thomas, H., Prowe, A. E. F., van Heuven, S. M. A. C., Bozec, Y., de Baar, H. J. W., Schiettecatte, L., Suykens, K., Koné, M., Borges, A. V., Lima, I. D., et al. (2007) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1029/2006gb002825 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Air–sea CO2 fluxes on the US Middle Atlantic Bight
DeGrandpre, M. D., Olbu, G. J., Beatty, C. M., & Hammar, T. R. (2002) · Deep Sea Research Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography · doi:10.1016/s0967-0645(02)00122-4 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Yasunaka, S., Murata, A. M., Watanabe, E., Chierici, M., Fransson, A., van Heuven, S. M. A. C., Hoppema, M., Ishii, M., Johannessen, T., Kosugi, N., et al. (2016) · Polar Science · doi:10.1016/j.polar.2016.03.006 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Bianchi, A. A., Ruiz-Pino, D. P., Perlender, H. G. I., Osiroff, A. P., Segura, V., Lutz, V. A., Clara, M. L., Balestrini, C. F., & Piola, A. R. (2009) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2008jc004854 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Temporal variations in the carbonate system in the upper layer at the SEATS station
Tseng, C., Wong, G. T. F., Chou, W.-C., Lee, B. S., Sheu, D. D.-D., & Liu, K. (2007) · Deep Sea Research Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography · doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.05.003 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Ishii, M., Kosugi, N., Sasano, D., Saito, S., Midorikawa, T., & INOUE, H. Y. (2011) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2010jc006831 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Shallow-water oceans: a source or sink of atmospheric CO2?
Andersson, A. J., & Mackenzie, F. T. (2004) · Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment · doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0348:soasos]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Self-citationAir-Sea CO 2 fluxes on the Scotian Shelf: seasonal to multi-annual variability
Shadwick, E. H., Thomas, H., Comeau, A., Craig, S. E., Hunt, C. W., & Salisbury, J. E. (2010) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-7-3851-2010 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Two decades of inorganic carbon dynamics along the West Antarctic Peninsula
Hauri, C., Doney, S. C., Takahashi, T., Erickson, M., Jiang, G., & Ducklow, H. W. (2015) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-12-6761-2015 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Air–water CO 2 evasion from US East Coast estuaries
Laruelle, G. G., Goossens, N., Arndt, S., Cai, W., & Regnier, P. A. G. (2017) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-14-2441-2017 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Self-citationCoupled C, N, P, and O Biogeochemical Cycling at the Land–Ocean Interface
Mackenzie, F. T., Carlo, E. H. D., & Lerman, A. (2011) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-374711-2.00512-x · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Self-citationWesslander, K., Omstedt, A., & Schneider, B. (2010) · Continental Shelf Research · doi:10.1016/j.csr.2010.05.014 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Laruelle, G. G., Lauerwald, R., Rotschi, J., Raymond, P. A., Hartmann, J., & Regnier, P. A. G. (2015) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-12-1447-2015 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Self-citationInter-annual variability of the carbon dioxide oceanic sink south of Tasmania
Borges, A. V., Tilbrook, B. D., Metzl, N., et al. (2008) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-5-141-2008 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Variability of North Sea pH and CO2 in response to North Atlantic Oscillation forcing
Salt, L. A., Thomas, H., Prowe, A. E. F., et al. (2013) · Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences · doi:10.1002/2013jg002306 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Marrec, P., Cariou, T., Macé, É., Morin, P., Salt, L. A., Vernet, M., Taylor, B. H., Paxman, K., & Bozec, Y. (2015) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-12-5371-2015 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
T. TAKAHASHI, Sutherland, S., & Kozyr, A. (2010) · doi:10.3334/cdiac/otg.ndp088(v2009 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Air-sea CO 2 fluxes on the Bering Sea shelf
Bates, N. R., Mathis, J. T., & Jeffries, M. A. (2011) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-8-1237-2011 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Sea-air CO2 fluxes in the western Canadian coastal ocean
Evans, W., Hales, B., Strutton, P. G., et al. (2012) · Progress In Oceanography · doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2012.01.003 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Fransson, A., Chierici, M., & Nojiri, Y. (2006) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2004jc002759 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
A large increase of the CO2 sink in the western tropical North Atlantic from 2002 to 2009
Park, G.-H., & Wanninkhof, R. H. (2012) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2011jc007803 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
An automatic moving window approach for mapping meteorological data
Pardo‐Igúzquiza, E., Dowd, P. A., & Grimes, D. I. F. (2005) · International Journal of Climatology · doi:10.1002/joc.1128 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
A new statistical approach for interpreting oceanic fCO2 data
Wang, H., Hu, X., & Sterba‐Boatwright, B. (2016) · Marine Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2016.05.007 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationSurface Ocean Alkalinity Distribution in the Western North Atlantic Ocean Margins
Cai, W., Hu, X., Huang, W.-P., et al. (2008) · AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [2]IPCC. The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 2013).
- [30]Mackenzie, F. T., Lerman, A., & DeCarlo, E. H. in Treatise on Ocean and Estuarine Science, v. 4, (eds Middleburg, J. & Laane, R.) 317–342 (Elsevier, 2011).
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Borges, F. O., Guerreiro, M., Santos, C. P., Paula, J. R., & Rosa, R. (2022) · Frontiers in Marine Science · doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.1018766 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“, from the surface to a depth of 200 m; (Laruelle et al., 2018)] and removing potential occurrences referenced on land.”
Background
- Authors
- Laruelle, G. G., Cai, W.-J., Hu, X., Gruber, N., Mackenzie, F. T., & Regnier, P.
- Affiliations
- Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE)
- University of Delaware (US)
- Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi (US)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- Corresponding author
- Laruelle, Goulven G.
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2018-01-31
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 454-454
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5792465
- OpenAlex
- W2784599849
- Cited by
- 228
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 7
- FWCI
- 12.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Platform voor marien onderzoek (Vlaams Instituut Voor De Zee) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Institutional Archive of Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Dépôt institutionnel de l'Université libre de Bruxelles (Université Libre de Bruxelles) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- ETH Zürich Research Collection (cc-by)
- Funders
- European Commission (HORIZON2020, 643052)
- Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine and coastal ecosystems
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Keywords
- atmospheric CO2 sink, surface ocean pCO2, shelf waters, ocean carbon cycle, seasonal variation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
