Projected increase in carbon dioxide drawdown and acidification in large estuaries under climate change
| Author(s) | Li, Ming | |
| Author(s) | Guo, Yijun | |
| Author(s) | Cai, Wei-Jun | |
| Author(s) | Testa, Jeremy M. | |
| Author(s) | Shen, Chunqi | |
| Author(s) | Li, Renjian | |
| Author(s) | Su, Jianzhong | |
| Date Accessioned | 2024-03-05T20:05:15Z | |
| Date Available | 2024-03-05T20:05:15Z | |
| Publication Date | 2023-03-13 | |
| Description | This article was originally published in Communications Earth & Environment. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00733-5. © The Author(s) 2023 | |
| Abstract | Most estuaries are substantial sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. The estimated estuarine CO2 degassing is about 17% of the total oceanic uptake, but the effect of rising atmospheric CO2 on estuarine carbon balance remains unclear. Here we use 3D hydrodynamic-biogeochemical models of a large eutrophic estuary and a box model of two generic, but contrasting estuaries to generalize how climate change affects estuarine carbonate chemistry and CO2 fluxes. We found that small estuaries with short flushing times remain a CO2 source to the atmosphere, but large estuaries with long flushing times may become a greater carbon sink and acidify. In particular, climate downscaling projections for Chesapeake Bay in the mid-21st century showed a near-doubling of CO2 uptake, a pH decline of 0.1–0.3, and >90% expansion of the acidic volume. Our findings suggest that large eutrophic estuaries will become carbon sinks and suffer from accelerated acidification in a changing climate. | |
| Sponsor | This study was funded by the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Acidification Program (NOAA‐OAP; Awards NA15NOS4780184 and NA18NOS4780179). WJC acknowledges the support by the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR Program (grant #1757353) and the State of Delaware. This is UMCES Contribution Number 6286. | |
| Citation | Li, M., Guo, Y., Cai, WJ. et al. Projected increase in carbon dioxide drawdown and acidification in large estuaries under climate change. Commun Earth Environ 4, 68 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00733-5 | |
| ISSN | 2662-4435 | |
| URL | https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/34098 | |
| Language | en_US | |
| Publisher | Communications Earth & Environment | |
| dc.rights | Attribution 4.0 International | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| Keywords | marine chemistry | |
| Keywords | projection and prediction | |
| Keywords | climate action | |
| Title | Projected increase in carbon dioxide drawdown and acidification in large estuaries under climate change | |
| Type | Article |
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