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Offsetting the radiative benefit of ocean iron fertilization by enhancing N 2 O emissions
Author(s) -
Jin Xin,
Gruber Nicolas
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2003gl018458
Subject(s) - iron fertilization , human fertilization , environmental science , greenhouse gas , atmosphere (unit) , atmospheric sciences , radiative transfer , offset (computer science) , climatology , meteorology , oceanography , ecology , geology , geography , biology , agronomy , nutrient , physics , phytoplankton , computer science , programming language , quantum mechanics
Ocean iron fertilization is being considered as a strategy for mitigating the buildup of anthropogenic CO 2 in the atmosphere. Assessment of this strategy requires consideration of its unintended consequences, such as an enhancement of ocean N 2 O emissions. This feedback could offset the radiative benefit from the atmospheric CO 2 reduction significantly, because N 2 O is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than CO 2 itself. Our model results show that the magnitude of this offsetting effect is substantial, but is highly dependent on the location and duration of fertilization. We find the largest offsets (of the order of 100%) when fertilization is undertaken in the tropics, particularly when it is of limited duration and size. Smaller, but still substantial effects are found when fertilization is undertaken elsewhere and over longer periods. These results suggest that any assessment of ocean fertilization as a mitigating option is incomplete without consideration of the N 2 O feedback.