Impacts of simulated coastal ocean alkalinity enhancement on the seasonal carbon cycle in European waters under a low- and a high-emission scenario
- 1CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (Lecce, Italy)
- 2GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Kiel, Germany)
Abstract
One potentially scalable method to remove CO ₂ from the air is ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), which works to lower the ocean's CO ₂ partial pressure ( p CO ₂ ) and accelerate CO ₂ sequestration and durable storage. This study explores how OAE might affect the seasonal carbon cycle, which plays a key role in the ocean's annual CO ₂ uptake. By analysing Earth System Model simulations of OAE implemented continuously at the European coastline under low and high emissions, it was found that: (a) due to surface alkalinity retention, OAE reduces ocean p CO ₂ most strongly in summer, turning the region into a year-round carbon sink; (b) the strongest air-sea CO ₂ uptake enhancement takes place in winter; (c) the ocean's carbon sink is increased more strongly in SSP3-7.0 than in SSP1-2.6 due to a lower buffering capacity.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{ciscato2026impacts,
title = {{Impacts of simulated coastal ocean alkalinity enhancement on the seasonal carbon cycle in European waters under a low- and a high-emission scenario}},
author = {Chiara Ciscato and Neha Mehendale and Tronje P. Kemena and Sandy Avrutin and David P. Keller},
journal = {Earth System Dynamics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.5194/esd-17-1513-2026},
url = {https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/17/1513/2026/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Impacts of simulated coastal ocean alkalinity enhancement on the seasonal carbon cycle in European waters under a low- and a high-emission scenario
AU - Chiara Ciscato
AU - Neha Mehendale
AU - Tronje P. Kemena
AU - Sandy Avrutin
AU - David P. Keller
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Earth System Dynamics
DO - 10.5194/esd-17-1513-2026
UR - https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/17/1513/2026/
AB - One potentially scalable method to remove CO ₂ from the air is ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), which works to lower the ocean's CO ₂ partial pressure ( p CO ₂ ) and accelerate CO ₂ sequestration and durable storage. This study explores how OAE might affect the seasonal carbon cycle, which plays a key role in the ocean's annual CO ₂ uptake. By analysing Earth System Model simulations of OAE implemented continuously at the European coastline under low and high emissions, it was found that: (a) due to surface alkalinity retention, OAE reduces ocean p CO ₂ most strongly in summer, turning the region into a year-round carbon sink; (b) the strongest air-sea CO ₂ uptake enhancement takes place in winter; (c) the ocean's carbon sink is increased more strongly in SSP3-7.0 than in SSP1-2.6 due to a lower buffering capacity.
SN - 2190-4987
ER -