Interannual variability in the oxygen isotopes of atmospheric CO2 driven by El Niño

Lisa R. Welp (), Ralph F. Keeling (), Harro A. J. Meijer, Alane F. Bollenbacher, Stephen C. Piper, Kei Yoshimura, Roger J. Francey, Colin E. Allison and Martin Wahlen
Additional contact information
Lisa R. Welp: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0244, USA
Ralph F. Keeling: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0244, USA
Harro A. J. Meijer: Center for Isotope Research, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
Alane F. Bollenbacher: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0244, USA
Stephen C. Piper: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0244, USA
Kei Yoshimura: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0244, USA
Roger J. Francey: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, PB 1
Colin E. Allison: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, PB 1
Martin Wahlen: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0244, USA

Nature, 2011, vol. 477, issue 7366, 579-582

Abstract: El-Niño-driven variation in plant productivity Quantifying global-scale carbon assimilation by plants, or gross primary production (GPP), has been difficult because there are no direct measures at scales greater than the leaf level. An analysis of nearly 30 years of unpublished records of the oxygen isotope (18O/16O) composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide from sampling sites worldwide has provided a means of estimating the GPP that is not reliant on modelling. The data reveal previously unrecognized interannual fluctuations that are driven by El Niño climate events. The effect propagates from the tropics to higher latitudes through the tropical hydrological cycle. Recovery from El Niño events is rapid, implying a shorter turnover time for CO2 than is generally assumed, and suggests a best-guess figure for global GPP of 150–175 petagrams of carbon per year, rather than the current estimate of 120 petagrams.

Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10421 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:477:y:2011:i:7366:d:10.1038_nature10421

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature10421

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().