Shallow-water oceans: A source or sink of atmospheric CO2?

Abstract

The shallow-water ocean environment is of great importance in the context of global change and is heavily impacted by human activity. This study evaluates the effects of human activity on the CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and the surface water of shallow-water oceans. The evaluation is based on changes in net ecosystem metabolism, net ecosystem calcification, and atmospheric CO2 concentrations, as seen in a process-driven biogeochemical box model. Numerical simulations show that this air-sea interface has probably served as a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere for much of the past 300 years, but has recently switched, or will switch soon, to a net sink of CO2, because of rising atmospheric CO2 and increasing inorganic nutrient load.