The Carbon Cycle Response to Two El Nino Types: Observational Study

Chylek, Petr; Tans, Pieter; Christy, John; Dubey, Manvendra Krishna

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa9c5b

The Carbon Cycle Response to Two El Nino Types: Observational Study

Journal Article · Wed Nov 22 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Environmental Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa9c5b· OSTI ID:1415369

^[1]; Tans, Pieter ^[2]; Christy, John ^[3]; ^[1]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States). Earth System Research Lab.
Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville, AL (United States)

Here, we analyze monthly tropical near surface air temperature and Mauna Loa Observatory carbon dioxide (CO₂) data within 1960-2016 to identify different carbon cycle responses for two El Nino types: El Ninos originating in the central tropical Pacific (CP El Nino) and El Ninos originating in the eastern tropical Pacific (EP El Nino). We find significant differences between the two types of El Nino events with respect to time delay of the CO₂ rise rate that follows the increase in tropical near surface air temperatures caused by El Nino events. The average time lag of the CP El Nino is 4.0±1.7 months, while the mean time lag of EP El Nino is found to be 8.5±2.3 months. The average lag of all considered 1960-2016 El Ninos is 5.2±2.7 months. In contrast the sensitivity of CO2 growth rate to tropical near surface air temperature increase is determined to be about the same for both El Nino types equal to 2.8±0.9 ppmyr^-1K^-1 (or 5.9±1.9 GtCyr^-1K^-1). Our results should be useful for the understanding of the carbon cycle and constraining it in climate models.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1415369

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-17-20233

Journal Information:: Environmental Research Letters, Journal Name: Environmental Research Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 13; ISSN 1748-9326

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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History of El Niño impacts on the global carbon cycle 1957–2017: a quantification from atmospheric CO ₂ data Rödenbeck, C.; Zaehle, S.; Keeling, R. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 373, Issue 1760 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0303	journal	October 2018
Atmospheric and Ocean Dynamics May Explain Cycles in Oceanic Oscillations Seip, Knut L.; Grøn, Øyvind Climate, Vol. 7, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.3390/cli7060077	journal	May 2019
Role of Natural and Anthropogenic Loadings on Indian Temperature Trends B., Padmavathi; Rekapalli, Rajesh; Tiwari, R. K. Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 176, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-019-02247-8	journal	June 2019
The role of satellite observations in understanding the impact of El Niño on the carbon cycle: current capabilities and future opportunities Palmer, Paul I. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 373, Issue 1760 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0407	journal	October 2018
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Contrasting interannual atmospheric CO₂ variabilities and their terrestrial mechanisms for two types of El Niños Wang, Jun; Zeng, Ning; Wang, Meirong Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 18, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10333-2018	journal	January 2018
Computation and analysis of atmospheric carbon dioxide annual mean growth rates from satellite observations during 2003–2016 Buchwitz, Michael; Reuter, Maximilian; Schneising, Oliver Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 18, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17355-2018	journal	January 2018

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