Evaluating Changes of the Anthropogenic Carbon Inventory in the Northwestern Pacific using 13C
Abstract
[author abstract] Carbon dioxide concentrations in both the atmosphere and ocean have been increasing recently
due to the burning of fossil fuels. In order to predict and understand future climate the inventory of carbon
dioxide from fossil fuels needs to be assessed. The isotopic composition of carbon from fossil fuels is
distinct from that of carbon found in the ocean, and is therefore useful as a tracer of anthropogenic
carbon. Two sets of carbon isotope data are available along a latitudinal transect of the Northwestern
Pacific from the years 1994 and 2005. Using an equation to predict the carbon isotopic composition from
one data set to the other, we can calculate the change in carbon isotopes. The carbon isotope changes can
then be calculated into changes in anthropogenic carbon inventory in the study area.