Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions
<p>Tropical forests such as the Amazonian rainforests play an important role for climate, are large carbon stores and are a treasure of biodiversity. Amazonian forests have been exposed to large-scale deforestation and degradation for many decades. Deforestation declined between 2005 and 2012...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/9685/2023/acp-23-9685-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797729278222139392 |
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| author | L. S. Basso L. S. Basso L. S. Basso C. Wilson C. Wilson M. P. Chipperfield M. P. Chipperfield G. Tejada H. L. G. Cassol H. L. G. Cassol E. Arai M. Williams T. L. Smallman W. Peters W. Peters S. Naus S. Naus J. B. Miller M. Gloor |
| author_facet | L. S. Basso L. S. Basso L. S. Basso C. Wilson C. Wilson M. P. Chipperfield M. P. Chipperfield G. Tejada H. L. G. Cassol H. L. G. Cassol E. Arai M. Williams T. L. Smallman W. Peters W. Peters S. Naus S. Naus J. B. Miller M. Gloor |
| author_sort | L. S. Basso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Tropical forests such as the Amazonian rainforests play an important role for climate, are large carbon stores and are a treasure of biodiversity. Amazonian forests have been exposed to large-scale deforestation and degradation for many decades. Deforestation declined between 2005 and 2012 but more recently has again increased with similar rates as in 2007–2008. The resulting forest fragments are exposed to substantially elevated temperatures in an already warming world. These temperature and land cover changes are expected to affect the forests, and an important diagnostic of their health and sensitivity to climate variation is
their carbon balance. In a recent study based on CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> atmospheric
vertical profile observations between 2010 and 2018, and an air column
budgeting technique used to estimate fluxes, we reported the Amazon region
as a carbon source to the atmosphere, mainly due to fire emissions. Instead
of an air column budgeting technique, we use an inverse of the global
atmospheric transport model, TOMCAT, to assimilate CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> observations
from Amazon vertical profiles and global flask measurements. We thus
estimate inter- and intra-annual variability in the carbon fluxes, trends
over time and controls for the period of 2010–2018. This is the longest period covered by a Bayesian inversion of these atmospheric CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> profile observations to date. Our analyses indicate that the Amazon is a small net source of carbon to the atmosphere (mean
2010–2018 <span class="inline-formula">=</span> 0.13 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.17 Pg C yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>, where 0.17 is the 1<span class="inline-formula"><i>σ</i></span> uncertainty), with the majority of
the emissions coming from the eastern region (77 % of total Amazon
emissions). Fire is the primary driver of the Amazonian source (0.26 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.13 Pg C yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>), while forest carbon uptake removes around half of the fire emissions to the atmosphere (<span class="inline-formula">−</span>0.13 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.20 Pg C yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>). The largest net carbon sink was observed in the western-central Amazon region (72 % of the fire emissions). We find larger carbon emissions during the
extreme drought years (such as 2010, 2015 and 2016), correlated with
increases in temperature, cumulative water deficit and burned area. Despite
the increase in total carbon emissions during drought years, we do not
observe a significant trend over time in our carbon total, fire and net
biome exchange estimates between 2010 and 2018.<span id="page9686"/> Our analysis thus cannot
provide clear evidence for a weakening of the carbon uptake by Amazonian
tropical forests.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T11:26:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0bec6fb21bbc499dbdfa764040cf9342 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T11:26:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-0bec6fb21bbc499dbdfa764040cf93422023-09-01T07:02:58ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242023-09-01239685972310.5194/acp-23-9685-2023Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissionsL. S. Basso0L. S. Basso1L. S. Basso2C. Wilson3C. Wilson4M. P. Chipperfield5M. P. Chipperfield6G. Tejada7H. L. G. Cassol8H. L. G. Cassol9E. Arai10M. Williams11T. L. Smallman12W. Peters13W. Peters14S. Naus15S. Naus16J. B. Miller17M. Gloor18School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKGeneral Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, BrazilDepartment of Biogeochemical Signals, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, GermanySchool of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKNational Centre for Earth Observation, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKSchool of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKNational Centre for Earth Observation, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UKGeneral Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, BrazilGeneral Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, BrazilSchool of GeoSciences and National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FF, UKGeneral Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, BrazilSchool of GeoSciences and National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FF, UKSchool of GeoSciences and National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FF, UKEnvironmental Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research, 6708PB, Wageningen, the NetherlandsUniversity of Groningen, Centre for Isotope Research, 9747AG, Groningen, the NetherlandsEnvironmental Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research, 6708PB, Wageningen, the NetherlandsEarth, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, 2333CA, Leiden, the NetherlandsNOAA – Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USASchool of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK<p>Tropical forests such as the Amazonian rainforests play an important role for climate, are large carbon stores and are a treasure of biodiversity. Amazonian forests have been exposed to large-scale deforestation and degradation for many decades. Deforestation declined between 2005 and 2012 but more recently has again increased with similar rates as in 2007–2008. The resulting forest fragments are exposed to substantially elevated temperatures in an already warming world. These temperature and land cover changes are expected to affect the forests, and an important diagnostic of their health and sensitivity to climate variation is their carbon balance. In a recent study based on CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> atmospheric vertical profile observations between 2010 and 2018, and an air column budgeting technique used to estimate fluxes, we reported the Amazon region as a carbon source to the atmosphere, mainly due to fire emissions. Instead of an air column budgeting technique, we use an inverse of the global atmospheric transport model, TOMCAT, to assimilate CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> observations from Amazon vertical profiles and global flask measurements. We thus estimate inter- and intra-annual variability in the carbon fluxes, trends over time and controls for the period of 2010–2018. This is the longest period covered by a Bayesian inversion of these atmospheric CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> profile observations to date. Our analyses indicate that the Amazon is a small net source of carbon to the atmosphere (mean 2010–2018 <span class="inline-formula">=</span> 0.13 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.17 Pg C yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>, where 0.17 is the 1<span class="inline-formula"><i>σ</i></span> uncertainty), with the majority of the emissions coming from the eastern region (77 % of total Amazon emissions). Fire is the primary driver of the Amazonian source (0.26 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.13 Pg C yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>), while forest carbon uptake removes around half of the fire emissions to the atmosphere (<span class="inline-formula">−</span>0.13 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.20 Pg C yr<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span>). The largest net carbon sink was observed in the western-central Amazon region (72 % of the fire emissions). We find larger carbon emissions during the extreme drought years (such as 2010, 2015 and 2016), correlated with increases in temperature, cumulative water deficit and burned area. Despite the increase in total carbon emissions during drought years, we do not observe a significant trend over time in our carbon total, fire and net biome exchange estimates between 2010 and 2018.<span id="page9686"/> Our analysis thus cannot provide clear evidence for a weakening of the carbon uptake by Amazonian tropical forests.</p>https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/9685/2023/acp-23-9685-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | L. S. Basso L. S. Basso L. S. Basso C. Wilson C. Wilson M. P. Chipperfield M. P. Chipperfield G. Tejada H. L. G. Cassol H. L. G. Cassol E. Arai M. Williams T. L. Smallman W. Peters W. Peters S. Naus S. Naus J. B. Miller M. Gloor Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions |
| title_full | Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions |
| title_fullStr | Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions |
| title_short | Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> inversion reveals the Amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions, with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions |
| title_sort | atmospheric co sub 2 sub inversion reveals the amazon as a minor carbon source caused by fire emissions with forest uptake offsetting about half of these emissions |
| url | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/9685/2023/acp-23-9685-2023.pdf |
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