Response of atmospheric carbon dioxide to the secular variation of weakening geomagnetic field in whole atmosphere simulations

摘要

Responses of atmospheric carbon dioxide(CO_(2))density to geomagnetic secular variation are investigated using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model-eXtended(WACCM-X).Our ensemble simulations show that CO_(2) volume mixing ratios(VMRs)increase at high latitudes and decrease at mid and low latitudes by several ppmv in response to a 50%weakening of the geomagnetic field.Statistically significant changes in CO_(2) are mainly found above~90 km altitude and primarily redetermine the energy budget at~100-110 km.Our analysis of transformed Eulerian mean(TEM)circulation found that CO_(2) change is caused by enhanced upwelling at high latitudes and downwelling at mid and low latitudes as a result of increased Joule heating.We further analyzed the atmospheric CO_(2) response to realistic geomagnetic weakening between 1978 and 2013,and found increasing(decreasing)CO_(2) VMRs at high latitudes(mid and low latitudes)accordingly.For the first time,our simulation results demonstrate that the impact of geomagnetic variation on atmospheric CO_(2) distribution is noticeable on a time scale of decades.