Coastal Ocean Acidification at La Parguera CO2 Buoy
Melissa MeléndezPuerto Rico Climate Change Council (PRCCC) Annual MeetingApril 7 2016
MapCO2 buoyEnrique reef
• Buoy measurements
• CO2 Atm. & SW
• pH
• Carbonate saturation state (Ω)
“active accretion or dissolution of calcium carbonate minerals”
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17375
380
385
390
395
400
405
410
415
420p
pm
Monthly Mean of Atmospheric CO2
1 SD
year
Mauna LoaHawaii
La PargueraPuerto Rico
CO2,Atm. increaseMauna Loa - 3.0 (± 0.1) ppm year-1
2015 was the 4th consecutive year that grew more than 2 ppm
PIR ~ 280 ppm Mauna Loa - Feb 2016 = 404 ppmParguera - Feb 2016 = 408 ppm
Atmospheric CO2
Mitigation scenarios – 450-500 ppm by 2100
Monthly mean
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
26
28
30
Te
mp
era
ture
SW
(° C
) Climatology 2009 - Jan/2016
-1
0
1
° C
Residuals
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 201626
28
30
° C
Time Series 2009- Jan/2016
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
7.98
8
8.02
8.04
8.06
pH
(to
tal s
cale
)
Climatology 2009 - Jan/2016
-0.02
0
0.02
Residuals
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
7.98
8
8.02
8.04
8.06
Time Series 2009- Jan/2016
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
34
35
36
Salin
ityS
W (
psu
)
Climatology 2009 - Jan/2016
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
psu
Residuals
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
34
35
36
psu
Time Series 2009- Jan/2016
Seawater CO2
CO2,SW increase 1.05 (± 0.42) ppm year-1
High SST and CO2,SW
Local rainfall
Influx of the low-salinity Amazon and Orinoco River plumes
Low pH …but…CO2 solubility inversely
correlated with temperature
Other sources of CO2?
xCO2
Temp
Sal
pH
Monthly mean
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
7.98
8
8.02
8.04
8.06
pH
(to
tal scale
)
Climatology 2009 - Jan/2016
-0.02
0
0.02
Residuals
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
7.98
8
8.02
8.04
8.06
Time Series 2009- Jan/2016
Sink
Source
WinterSpring Summer Fall
Sea
Atm
No significant decrease over time Mean pH = 8.01 ± 0.15 2100 is expected to decrease 0.3 units
100–150% increase in acidity
Biology plays an important role
Persistent net source of CO2 to the atm.
Seawater pH IPCC AR5
Sea-air CO2 flux
Min 7.9
Spring WinterSummer Fall
y = -0.015 *x + 0.002
Observed Trend
Ωarg shows a decrease of 0.003 yr-1
Gledhill et al. (2008) & Qing Jiang et al. (2015) reported 3% per decade
Good
Marginal - 2050
Carbonate Saturation State (Ωarg)“active accretion or dissolution of calcium carbonate minerals”
Ωarg lower during summer and fall
Controlled by short-term pCO2,sw
dynamics, SST, SSS seasonal changes
Anomalies from the climatological modelp < 0.001
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