Southern Ocean carbon-wind stress feedback

The Southern Ocean is the largest sink of anthropogenic carbon in the present-day climate. Here, Southern Ocean pCO2pCO2 and its dependence on wind forcing are investigated using an equilibrium mixed layer carbon budget. This budget is used to derive an expression for Southern Ocean pCO2pCO2 sensitivity to wind stress. Southern Ocean pCO2pCO2 is found to vary as the square root of area-mean wind stress, arising from the dominance of vertical mixing over other processes such as lateral Ekman transport. The expression for p\hbox {CO} _ {2} is validated using idealised coarse-resolution ocean numerical experiments. Additionally, we show that increased (decreased) stratification through surface warming reduces (increases) the sensitivity of the Southern Ocean pCO2pCO2 to wind stress. The scaling is then used to estimate the wind-stress induced changes of atmospheric pCO2pCO2 in CMIP5 models using only a handful of parameters. The scaling is further used to model the anthropogenic carbon sink, showing a long-term reversal of the Southern Ocean sink for large wind stress strength

Perspective: Essential study quality descriptors for data from nutritional epidemiologic research

Pooled analysis of secondary data increases the power of research and enables scientific discovery in nutritional epidemiology. Information on study characteristics that determine data quality is needed to enable correct reuse and interpretation of data. This study aims to define essential quality characteristics for data from observational studies in nutrition. First, a literature review was performed to get an insight on existing instruments that assess the quality of cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies and dietary measurement. Second, 2 face-to-face workshops were organized to determine the study characteristics that affect data quality. Third, consensus on the data descriptors and controlled vocabulary was obtained. From 4884 papers retrieved, 26 relevant instruments, containing 164 characteristics for study design and 93 characteristics for measurements, were selected. The workshop and consensus process resulted in 10 descriptors allocated to "study design" and 22 to "measurement" domains. Data descriptors were organized as an ordinal scale of items to facilitate the identification, storage, and querying of nutrition data. Further integration of an Ontology for Nutrition Studies will facilitate interoperability of data repositories

Perspective: Essential study quality descriptors for data from nutritional epidemiologic research

Pooled analysis of secondary data increases the power of research and enables scientific discovery in nutritional epidemiology. Information on study characteristics that determine data quality is needed to enable correct reuse and interpretation of data. This study aims to define essential quality characteristics for data from observational studies in nutrition. First, a literature review was performed to get an insight on existing instruments that assess the quality of cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies and dietary measurement. Second, 2 face-to-face workshops were organized to determine the study characteristics that affect data quality. Third, consensus on the data descriptors and controlled vocabulary was obtained. From 4884 papers retrieved, 26 relevant instruments, containing 164 characteristics for study design and 93 characteristics for measurements, were selected. The workshop and consensus process resulted in 10 descriptors allocated to "study design" and 22 to "measurement" domains. Data descriptors were organized as an ordinal scale of items to facilitate the identification, storage, and querying of nutrition data. Further integration of an Ontology for Nutrition Studies will facilitate interoperability of data repositories

Quantification of ocean heat uptake from changes in atmospheric O2 and CO2 composition

The ocean is the main source of thermal inertia in the climate system. Ocean heat uptake during recent decades has been quantified using ocean temperature measurements. However, these estimates all use the same imperfect ocean dataset and share additional uncertainty due to sparse coverage, especially before 2007. Here, we provide an independent estimate by using measurements of atmospheric oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) – levels of which increase as the ocean warms and releases gases – as a whole ocean thermometer. We show that the ocean gained 1.29 ± 0.79 × 1022 Joules of heat per year between 1991 and 2016, equivalent to a planetary energy imbalance of 0.80 ± 0.49 W watts per square metre of Earth’s surface. We also find that the ocean-warming effect that led to the outgassing of O2 and CO2 can be isolated from the direct effects of anthropogenic emissions and CO2 sinks. Our result – which relies on high-precision O2 atmospheric measurements dating back to 1991 – leverages an integrative Earth system approach and provides much needed independent confirmation of heat uptake estimated from ocean data

General attitudes towards marriage scale: psychometric properties in Malaysian adolescents of divorced families

Attitudes towards marriage in adolescence may influence the relationship quality in later years. There exist many measures of attitudes towards marriage which were validated among adolescents from two-parent family in the Western context. There is a need to validate measure of attitudes towards marriage in different countries. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Malay version of general attitudes towards marriage scale in a sample of 480 adolescents from divorced families in Malaysia. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a two-factor structure of general attitudes towards marriage scale, which explained for 60% of the variance. Additionally, the two-factor structure of general attitudes towards marriage scale demonstrated good fit to data in the confirmatory factor analysis (non-normed fit index = .941, comparative fit index = .958, root mean square error of estimation = .087, and χ 2/df = 4.615). Overall, the general attitudes towards marriage scale exhibited good internal consistency (α = .901), which supports the reliability of the instrument. The significant relationships between general attitudes towards marriage scale and other constructs also provided evidences to the convergent validity (r = .761, p < .001 with intent to marry, r = −.170, p < .001 with overt inter-parental conflict, and r = .523, p < .001 with mother–adolescent relationship). Significant gender difference was found in the report of general attitudes towards marriage scale (t = −2.265, p < .05). Thus, the translated general attitudes towards marriage scale is a reliable, valid, and practical instrument to measure attitudes towards marriage among Malaysian adolescents in divorced family setting

The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink

Observed and predicted increases in Southern Ocean winds are thought to upwell deep ocean carbon and increase atmospheric CO2. However, Southern Ocean dynamics affect biogeochemistry and circulation pathways on a global scale. Using idealised MITgcm simulations, we demonstrate that an increase in Southern Ocean winds reduces the carbon sink in the North Atlantic sub-polar gyre. The increase in atmospheric CO2 due to the reduction of the North Atlantic carbon sink is shown to be of the same magnitude as the increase in atmospheric CO2 due to Southern Ocean outgassing. The mechanism can be described as follows: The increase in Southern Ocean winds leads to an increase in upper ocean northward nutrient transport. Biological productivity is therefore enhanced in the tropics, which alters the chemistry of the sub-thermocline waters that are ultimately upwelled in the subpolar gyre. The results demonstrate the influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink and show that the effect of Southern Ocean winds on atmospheric CO2 is likely twice as large as previously thought in past, present, and future climates

The influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink

Observed and predicted increases in Southern Ocean winds are thought to upwell deep ocean carbon and increase atmospheric CO2. However, Southern Ocean dynamics affect biogeochemistry and circulation pathways on a global scale. Using idealised MITgcm simulations, we demonstrate that an increase in Southern Ocean winds reduces the carbon sink in the North Atlantic sub-polar gyre. The increase in atmospheric CO2 due to the reduction of the North Atlantic carbon sink is shown to be of the same magnitude as the increase in atmospheric CO2 due to Southern Ocean outgassing. The mechanism can be described as follows: The increase in Southern Ocean winds leads to an increase in upper ocean northward nutrient transport. Biological productivity is therefore enhanced in the tropics, which alters the chemistry of the sub-thermocline waters that are ultimately upwelled in the subpolar gyre. The results demonstrate the influence of Southern Ocean winds on the North Atlantic carbon sink and show that the effect of Southern Ocean winds on atmospheric CO2 is likely twice as large as previously thought in past, present, and future climates

Agreement of CMIP5 simulated and observed ocean anthropogenic CO2 uptake

Previous studies found large biases between individual observational and model estimates of historical ocean anthropogenic carbon uptake. We show that the largest bias between the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) ensemble mean and between two observational estimates of ocean anthropogenic carbon is due to a difference in start date. After adjusting the CMIP5 and observational estimates to the 1791–1995 period, all three carbon uptake estimates agree to within 3 Pg of C, about 4% of the total. The CMIP5 ensemble mean spatial bias compared to the observations is generally smaller than the observational error, apart from a negative bias in the Southern Ocean and a positive bias in the Southern Indian and Pacific Oceans compensating each other in the global mean. This dipole pattern is likely due to an equatorward and weak bias in the position of Southern Hemisphere westerlies and lack of mode and intermediate water ventilation

Agreement of CMIP5 simulated and observed ocean anthropogenic CO2 uptake

Previous studies found large biases between individual observational and model estimates of historical ocean anthropogenic carbon uptake. We show that the largest bias between the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) ensemble mean and between two observational estimates of ocean anthropogenic carbon is due to a difference in start date. After adjusting the CMIP5 and observational estimates to the 1791–1995 period, all three carbon uptake estimates agree to within 3 Pg of C, about 4% of the total. The CMIP5 ensemble mean spatial bias compared to the observations is generally smaller than the observational error, apart from a negative bias in the Southern Ocean and a positive bias in the Southern Indian and Pacific Oceans compensating each other in the global mean. This dipole pattern is likely due to an equatorward and weak bias in the position of Southern Hemisphere westerlies and lack of mode and intermediate water ventilation