Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-765
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-765
08 Mar 2023
 | 08 Mar 2023
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal ACP.

Technical Note: The impact of industrial activity on the amount of atmospheric O2

Mark O. Battle, Raine Raynor, Stephen Kesler, and Ralph Keeling

Abstract. Concurrent measurements of atmospheric O2 and CO2 amount fractions have been used for decades now to estimate fluxes of carbon to and from the oceans and the land biosphere. The equations used in these estimates explicitly include fossil fuel combustion but largely ignore fluxes of O2 associated with the refining of metals and other industrially important elements. Here, we quantify the O2 fluxes associated with the processing of iron, aluminum and copper. We also consider the potential impact of sulfur. We find that inclusion of the fluxes due to metals leads to an increased estimate of ocean carbon uptake in the years 2000–2010 of  Pg a-1 with a corresponding decrease in estimated land uptake. A rough estimate of sulfur chemistry during fossil fuel combustion also increases ocean uptake but by a much smaller amount. These corrections are small compared to existing estimates of the fluxes and their uncertainties ((2.27 ± 0.60) and (1.05 ± 0.84) Pg a-1 for ocean and land respectively (Keeling and Manning, 2014)) but should be employed in future analyses.

Mark O. Battle et al.

Status: open (until 19 Apr 2023)

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  • RC1: 'Review of “Technical Note: The impact of industrial activity on the amount of atmospheric O2” by M. Battle and colleagues', Anonymous Referee #1, 27 Mar 2023 reply

Mark O. Battle et al.

Mark O. Battle et al.

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Short summary
For decades, we have used measurements of atmospheric oxygen to understand how much carbon dioxide leaves the atmosphere and enters the land biosphere and the oceans. Until now, these calculations have ignored the release of oxygen associated with the refining of iron, aluminum and copper from their ores. In this article, we show that this release of oxygen is indeed much smaller than all of the other terms that have been included in the calculations and the earlier calculations are valid.
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