Temperature‐Modulated Ocean CO2 Uptake in Response to CO2 Increase and Decrease

We use an Earth system model to investigate climate change effect on ocean CO2 uptake. Atmospheric CO2 increases from 1 × CO2 (285 ppm) to 4 × CO2 and then returns to 1 × CO2 at a rate of 1% per year. At 4 × CO2, climate change reduces cumulative CO2 uptake by 96 PgC, with the effect of temperature‐induced changes in ocean mixing, CO2 solubility, and biology accounting for 46%, 38%, and 16%, respectively. After CO2 starts to decrease, climate change continues to reduce CO2 uptake due to persistent ocean warming, and the relative role of ocean mixing and biology becomes more important. When atmospheric CO2 returns to 1 × CO2, climate change reduces cumulative CO2 uptake by 198 PgC, with changes in ocean mixing, CO2 solubility, and biology accounting for 52%, 23%, and 25%, respectively. Temperature‐induced changes in phytoplankton growth and remineralization rates each affect CO2 uptake more strongly than solubility, though their effects partially offset each other.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Geophysical Research Letters

• Publication date

  2025-10-21

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1029/2025GL117639
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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