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

Title: 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.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1415369

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

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

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 18 works

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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
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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