Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide

Corinne Le Quéré; Michael R. Raupach; Josep G. Canadell; Gregg Marland; Laurent Bopp; Philippe Ciais; Thomas J. Conway; Scott C. Doney; Richard A. Feely; Pru Foster; Pierre Friedlingstein; Kevin Gurney; Richard A. Houghton; Joanna I. House; Chris Huntingford; Peter E. Levy; Mark R. Lomas; Joseph Majkut; Nicolas Metzl; Jean P. Ometto; Glen P. Peters; I. Colin Prentice; James T. Randerson; Steven W. Running; Jorge L. Sarmiento; Ute Schuster; Stephen Sitch; Taro Takahashi; Nicolas Viovy; Guido R. Van Der Werf; F. Ian Woodward

doi:10.1038/ngeo689

Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide

Corinne Le Quéré
, Michael R. Raupach
, Josep G. Canadell
, Gregg Marland
, Laurent Bopp
, Philippe Ciais
, Thomas J. Conway
, Scott C. Doney
, Richard A. Feely
, Pru Foster
, Pierre Friedlingstein
, Kevin Gurney
, Richard A. Houghton
, Joanna I. House
, Chris Huntingford
, Peter E. Levy
, Mark R. Lomas
, Joseph Majkut
, Nicolas Metzl
, Jean P. Ometto

Glen P. Peters, I. Colin Prentice, James T. Randerson, Steven W. Running, Jorge L. Sarmiento, Ute Schuster, Stephen Sitch, Taro Takahashi, Nicolas Viovy, Guido R. Van Der Werf, F. Ian Woodward

W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation

University of East Anglia
British Antarctic Survey
CSIRO
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
University of Bristol
Purdue University
Woods Hole Research Center
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
University of Sheffield
Princeton University
CNRS
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
CICERO Center for International Climate Research
University of California at Irvine
University of Leeds
Columbia University
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1683 Scopus citations

Abstract

Efforts to control climate change require the stabilization of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. This can only be achieved through a drastic reduction of global CO 2 emissions. Yet fossil fuel emissions increased by 29% between 2000 and 2008, in conjunction with increased contributions from emerging economies, from the production and international trade of goods and services, and from the use of coal as a fuel source. In contrast, emissions from land-use changes were nearly constant. Between 1959 and 2008, 43% of each year's CO 2 emissions remained in the atmosphere on average; the rest was absorbed by carbon sinks on land and in the oceans. In the past 50 years, the fraction of CO 2 emissions that remains in the atmosphere each year has likely increased, from about 40% to 45%, and models suggest that this trend was caused by a decrease in the uptake of CO 2 by the carbon sinks in response to climate change and variability. Changes in the CO 2 sinks are highly uncertain, but they could have a significant influence on future atmospheric CO 2 levels. It is therefore crucial to reduce the uncertainties.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	831-836
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Volume	2
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo689
State	Published - Dec 2009

Funding

The annual update and analyses of the global carbon budget are a collaborative effort of the Global Carbon Project, a joint project of the Earth System Science Partnership, contributed to by an international consortium of scientists. We thank C. Rödenbeck, A. Mouchet, R. Keeling and N. Gruber for comments on this manuscript, and C. Enright and E. T. Buitenhuis for modelling support. Many of the observations and modelling analyses were supported by funding agencies in the European Union (CARBOOCEAN and the Natural Environment Research Council’s QUEST programme), the United States (the National Science Foundation, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Office of Science of the Department of Energy), Australia and Brazil.

Funders	Funder number
Biological and Environmental Research
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Natural Environment Research Council	bas010013, earth010003, quest010001
European Commission

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 15 Life on Land

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10.1038/ngeo689

Cite this

Le Quéré, C., Raupach, M. R., Canadell, J. G., Marland, G., Bopp, L., Ciais, P., Conway, T. J., Doney, S. C., Feely, R. A., Foster, P., Friedlingstein, P., Gurney, K., Houghton, R. A., House, J. I., Huntingford, C., Levy, P. E., Lomas, M. R., Majkut, J., Metzl, N., ... Woodward, F. I. (2009). Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide. Nature Geoscience, 2(12), 831-836. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo689

@article{784eef86281144f395050f50c3adddd4,

title = "Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide",

abstract = "Efforts to control climate change require the stabilization of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. This can only be achieved through a drastic reduction of global CO 2 emissions. Yet fossil fuel emissions increased by 29\% between 2000 and 2008, in conjunction with increased contributions from emerging economies, from the production and international trade of goods and services, and from the use of coal as a fuel source. In contrast, emissions from land-use changes were nearly constant. Between 1959 and 2008, 43\% of each year's CO 2 emissions remained in the atmosphere on average; the rest was absorbed by carbon sinks on land and in the oceans. In the past 50 years, the fraction of CO 2 emissions that remains in the atmosphere each year has likely increased, from about 40\% to 45\%, and models suggest that this trend was caused by a decrease in the uptake of CO 2 by the carbon sinks in response to climate change and variability. Changes in the CO 2 sinks are highly uncertain, but they could have a significant influence on future atmospheric CO 2 levels. It is therefore crucial to reduce the uncertainties.",

author = "\{Le Qu{\'e}r{\'e}\}, Corinne and Raupach, \{Michael R.\} and Canadell, \{Josep G.\} and Gregg Marland and Laurent Bopp and Philippe Ciais and Conway, \{Thomas J.\} and Doney, \{Scott C.\} and Feely, \{Richard A.\} and Pru Foster and Pierre Friedlingstein and Kevin Gurney and Houghton, \{Richard A.\} and House, \{Joanna I.\} and Chris Huntingford and Levy, \{Peter E.\} and Lomas, \{Mark R.\} and Joseph Majkut and Nicolas Metzl and Ometto, \{Jean P.\} and Peters, \{Glen P.\} and Prentice, \{I. Colin\} and Randerson, \{James T.\} and Running, \{Steven W.\} and Sarmiento, \{Jorge L.\} and Ute Schuster and Stephen Sitch and Taro Takahashi and Nicolas Viovy and \{Van Der Werf\}, \{Guido R.\} and Woodward, \{F. Ian\}",

year = "2009",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/ngeo689",

language = "English",

volume = "2",

pages = "831--836",

journal = "Nature Geoscience",

issn = "1752-0894",

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Le Quéré, C, Raupach, MR, Canadell, JG, Marland, G, Bopp, L, Ciais, P, Conway, TJ, Doney, SC, Feely, RA, Foster, P, Friedlingstein, P, Gurney, K, Houghton, RA, House, JI, Huntingford, C, Levy, PE, Lomas, MR, Majkut, J, Metzl, N, Ometto, JP, Peters, GP, Prentice, IC, Randerson, JT, Running, SW, Sarmiento, JL, Schuster, U, Sitch, S, Takahashi, T, Viovy, N, Van Der Werf, GR & Woodward, FI 2009, 'Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide', Nature Geoscience, vol. 2, no. 12, pp. 831-836. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo689

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AU - Raupach, Michael R.

AU - Canadell, Josep G.

AU - Marland, Gregg

AU - Bopp, Laurent

AU - Ciais, Philippe

AU - Conway, Thomas J.

AU - Doney, Scott C.

AU - Feely, Richard A.

AU - Foster, Pru

AU - Friedlingstein, Pierre

AU - Gurney, Kevin

AU - Houghton, Richard A.

AU - House, Joanna I.

AU - Huntingford, Chris

AU - Levy, Peter E.

AU - Lomas, Mark R.

AU - Majkut, Joseph

AU - Metzl, Nicolas

AU - Ometto, Jean P.

AU - Peters, Glen P.

AU - Prentice, I. Colin

AU - Randerson, James T.

AU - Running, Steven W.

AU - Sarmiento, Jorge L.

AU - Schuster, Ute

AU - Sitch, Stephen

AU - Takahashi, Taro

AU - Viovy, Nicolas

AU - Van Der Werf, Guido R.

AU - Woodward, F. Ian

PY - 2009/12

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N2 - Efforts to control climate change require the stabilization of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. This can only be achieved through a drastic reduction of global CO 2 emissions. Yet fossil fuel emissions increased by 29% between 2000 and 2008, in conjunction with increased contributions from emerging economies, from the production and international trade of goods and services, and from the use of coal as a fuel source. In contrast, emissions from land-use changes were nearly constant. Between 1959 and 2008, 43% of each year's CO 2 emissions remained in the atmosphere on average; the rest was absorbed by carbon sinks on land and in the oceans. In the past 50 years, the fraction of CO 2 emissions that remains in the atmosphere each year has likely increased, from about 40% to 45%, and models suggest that this trend was caused by a decrease in the uptake of CO 2 by the carbon sinks in response to climate change and variability. Changes in the CO 2 sinks are highly uncertain, but they could have a significant influence on future atmospheric CO 2 levels. It is therefore crucial to reduce the uncertainties.

AB - Efforts to control climate change require the stabilization of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. This can only be achieved through a drastic reduction of global CO 2 emissions. Yet fossil fuel emissions increased by 29% between 2000 and 2008, in conjunction with increased contributions from emerging economies, from the production and international trade of goods and services, and from the use of coal as a fuel source. In contrast, emissions from land-use changes were nearly constant. Between 1959 and 2008, 43% of each year's CO 2 emissions remained in the atmosphere on average; the rest was absorbed by carbon sinks on land and in the oceans. In the past 50 years, the fraction of CO 2 emissions that remains in the atmosphere each year has likely increased, from about 40% to 45%, and models suggest that this trend was caused by a decrease in the uptake of CO 2 by the carbon sinks in response to climate change and variability. Changes in the CO 2 sinks are highly uncertain, but they could have a significant influence on future atmospheric CO 2 levels. It is therefore crucial to reduce the uncertainties.

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U2 - 10.1038/ngeo689

DO - 10.1038/ngeo689

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:71249124084

SN - 1752-0894

VL - 2

SP - 831

EP - 836

JO - Nature Geoscience

JF - Nature Geoscience

IS - 12

ER -

Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

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