If the North American carbon cycle was changing, would we notice?

Abstract:

Creating a State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR) is a challenging task in part because it could serve many different purposes. A second SOCCR (SOCCR-2) suggests an update of the original report, published in 2007, which documented sources and sinks of CO2 across North America from a variety of sectors. What changes in the North American carbon balance should be updated with a SOCCR-2? This presentation will review what we know about the North American carbon cycle today that might diverge from our state of knowledge at the time of SOCCR-1, focusing especially on atmospheric methods for assessing the carbon cycle. Atmospheric methods were not utilized in SOCCR-1; I will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of including these methods in SOCCR-2. Further, I will discuss the degree to which we currently have the capacity to detect changes in important components of the North American carbon cycle, focusing primarily on atmospheric methods. Finally, I will suggest high priorities for research that could fill the gaps in our ability to detect and understand changes in important components of the North American carbon cycle.