Disentangling the impact of Atlantic Nino on sea-air CO₂ flux.

ABSTRACT: Atlantic Niño is a major tropical interannual climate variability mode of the sea surface temperature (SST) that occurs during boreal summer and shares many similarities with the tropical Pacific El Niño. Although the tropical Atlantic is an important source of CO₂ to the atmosphere, the impact of Atlantic Niño on the sea-air CO₂ exchange is not well understood. Here we show that the Atlantic Niño enhances (weakens) CO₂ outgassing in the central (western) tropical Atlantic. In the western basin, freshwater-induced changes in surface salinity, which considerably modulate the surface ocean CO₂ partial pressure (pCO₂), are the primary driver for the observed CO₂ flux variations. In contrast, pCO₂ anomalies in the cen

SUBMITTER: Koseki S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10282012 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature