Excess carbon dioxide emitted by human activities—such as fossil fuel burning, land-use changes, and deforestation—is known as anthropogenic carbon dioxide.
Excess carbon dioxide emitted by human activities—such as fossil fuel burning, land-use changes, and deforestation—is known as anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Approximately thirty percent of this anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by the world’s oceans. While this absorption helps mitigate global warming, it also has adverse effects on marine life, including fish and plants.
While the impact of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on the open oceans has been extensively studied, there has been limited observational data on its presence and sources in coastal oceans, the broad range of saltwater ecosystems, from estuaries to coral reefs, that link the land and sea.
A recent study from Wei-Jun Cai’s lab at the University of Delaware, titled “The Source and Accumulation of Anthropogenic Carbon in the U.S. East Coast,” published in Science Advances, addresses this gap.
Read More: University of Delaware
A recent study from Wei-Jun Cai’s lab group at the University of Delaware looked to address the issue of the amount of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, as well as where that anthropogenic carbon dioxide comes from with observational data in coastal oceans. (Photo Credit: University of Delaware)
