The Impact of Industrial Activity on the Amount of Atmospheric O2

Mark O. Battle; A. Raine Raynor; Stephen E. Kesler; Ralph F. Keeling

doi:10.16993/tellusb.1875

The Impact of Industrial Activity on the Amount of Atmospheric O2

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 75 (2023): Issue 1

By: Mark O. Battle , A. Raine Raynor, Stephen E. Kesler and Ralph F. Keeling

Open Access

|Dec 2023

Figures & Tables

Table 1

World production of iron and the associated effective release of O₂ to the atmosphere, totalled for each calendar year. While the most likely mix of iron-bearing minerals is 80% hematite and 20% magnetite (by mole), we include other (extreme) scenarios as a sensitivity study. Data from Tuck (2020a).

YEAR	WORLD PRODUCTION OF REDUCED IRON (Pg)	ANNUALLY INTEGRATED O₂ SOURCE (Tmol) ASSUMING 80% HEMATITE	ANNUALLY INTEGRATED O₂ SOURCE (Tmol) ASSUMING 50% HEMATITE	ANNUALLY INTEGRATED O₂ SOURCE (Tmol) ASSUMING 95% HEMATITE
1990	0.54	7.09	6.85	7.21
1991	0.52	6.80	6.57	6.92
1992	0.50	6.52	6.30	6.64
1993	0.50	6.52	6.30	6.63
1994	0.51	6.76	6.53	6.88
1995	0.55	7.24	7.00	7.37
1996	0.55	7.18	6.94	7.30
1997	0.59	7.68	7.42	7.81
1998	0.57	7.53	7.27	7.66
1999	0.56	7.35	7.10	7.48
2000	0.60	7.93	7.66	8.07
2001	0.59	7.73	7.46	7.86
2002	0.61	8.07	7.80	8.21
2003	0.64	8.41	8.13	8.56
2004	0.75	9.87	9.54	10.04
2005	0.84	11.07	10.69	11.26
2006	0.96	12.66	12.23	12.87
2007	1.07	14.05	13.57	14.29
2008	1.13	14.84	14.33	15.09
2009	1.09	14.31	13.83	14.56
2010	1.17	15.36	14.84	15.63
2011	1.24	16.28	15.73	16.56
2012	1.26	16.55	15.98	16.83
2013	1.34	17.60	17.00	17.90
2014	1.45	19.04	18.39	19.37
2015	1.46	19.17	18.52	19.50
2016	1.47	19.30	18.65	19.63
2017	1.50	19.70	19.03	20.03
2018	1.52	19.96	19.28	20.30

Effective fluxes of O₂ to the atmosphere associated with production of various metals (10¹² mol a^–1). Negative values indicate a flux *from* the atmosphere. We assume iron is derived from 80% hematite and 20% magnetite (by mole). We assume copper is derived exclusively from sulfides. The heavy black line is the best estimate of total effective flux to the atmosphere from all sources (assuming an 80/20 mix of hematite and magnetite). The thin black lines show extreme cases (assuming 95% hematite and 50% hematite). Error bars on the extreme cases show the additional uncertainty (1σ) *not* originating from the unknown hematite/magnetite mix. Values are taken from Table 4, assigning the total annual value to the mid-year point and interpolating linearly.

Table 2

World production of aluminium and the associated effective release of O₂ to the atmosphere, totalled for each calendar year. Data from Bray (2020a, b).

YEAR	WORLD PRODUCTION OF REDUCED ALUMINIUM (Tg)	ANNUALLY INTEGRATED O₂ SOURCE (Tmol) FROM REDUCTION OF ALUMINA
1990	19.3	0.54
1991	19.7	0.55
1992	19.5	0.54
1993	19.8	0.55
1994	19.2	0.53
1995	19.7	0.55
1996	20.8	0.58
1997	21.7	0.60
1998	22.6	0.63
1999	23.6	0.66
2000	24.3	0.68
2001	24.3	0.68
2002	26.1	0.73
2003	28.0	0.78
2004	29.9	0.83
2005	31.9	0.89
2006	33.9	0.94
2007	37.9	1.05
2008	39.7	1.10
2009	37.2	1.03
2010	41.8	1.16
2011	46.8	1.30
2012	49.3	1.37
2013	52.1	1.45
2014	54.1	1.50
2015	57.8	1.61
2016	59.5	1.65
2017	59.5	1.65
2018	63.6	1.77
2019	63.2	1.76

Table 3

World production of copper and the associated removal of O₂ from the atmosphere, totalled for each calendar year. We ignore copper produced from oxide minerals. We assume that 70% of the copper (by mole) comes from chalcopyrite, 15% from chalcocite and 10% from bornite (Sillitoe, 2021), with O₂:Cu molar ratios of 29:8, 3:4 and 53:40, respectively. Production data from Flanagan (2021).

YEAR	WORLD PRODUCTION OF REDUCED COPPER (Tg)	ANNUALLY INTEGRATED O₂ SINK (Tmol) SULFIDES ONLY
1990	8.62	0.15
1991	8.65	0.15
1992	8.73	0.15
1993	8.42	0.14
1994	8.43	0.14
1995	8.49	0.14
1996	9.05	0.15
1997	11.14	0.19
1998	11.40	0.19
1999	11.61	0.20
2000	11.02	0.19
2001	12.11	0.20
2002	12.19	0.21
2003	12.59	0.21
2004	12.81	0.22
2005	13.19	0.22
2006	13.73	0.23
2007	13.88	0.23
2008	15.03	0.25
2009	15.38	0.26
2010	15.85	0.27
2011	16.40	0.28
2012	16.88	0.29
2013	17.74	0.30
2014	19.20	0.32
2015	19.63	0.33
2016	19.96	0.34
2017	19.95	0.34
2018	20.27	0.34

Table 4

Net effective oxygen release to the atmosphere associated with all metals for each calendar year (i.e. the annually integrated value of Z_metals). Units are 10¹² moles (Tmol). Upper and lower uncertainties are the quadrature sum of the variations arising from the hematite/magnetite scenarios and all other errors.

YEAR	ANNUALLY INTEGRATED O₂ SOURCE (Tmol)
1990	${7.48}_{- 0.26}^{+ 0.15}$
1991	${7.20}_{- 0.25}^{+ 0.14}$
1992	${6.92}_{- 0.24}^{+ 0.14}$
1993	${6.93}_{- 0.24}^{+ 0.14}$
1994	${7.15}_{- 0.24}^{+ 0.14}$
1995	${7.64}_{- 0.26}^{+ 0.15}$
1996	${7.60}_{- 0.26}^{+ 0.15}$
1997	${8.09}_{- 0.28}^{+ 0.16}$
1998	${7.96}_{- 0.27}^{+ 0.16}$
1999	${7.81}_{- 0.27}^{+ 0.16}$
2000	${8.42}_{- 0.29}^{+ 0.17}$
2001	${8.19}_{- 0.28}^{+ 0.17}$
2002	${8.59}_{- 0.30}^{+ 0.17}$
2003	${8.98}_{- 0.31}^{+ 0.18}$
2004	${10.48}_{- 0.36}^{+ 0.21}$
2005	${11.73}_{- 0.40}^{+ 0.23}$
2006	${13.36}_{- 0.46}^{+ 0.26}$
2007	${14.86}_{- 0.50}^{+ 0.29}$
2008	${15.68}_{- 0.53}^{+ 0.30}$
2009	${15.08}_{- 0.51}^{+ 0.29}$
2010	${16.25}_{- 0.55}^{+ 0.32}$
2011	${17.30}_{- 0.59}^{+ 0.34}$
2012	${17.62}_{- 0.60}^{+ 0.34}$
2013	${18.74}_{- 0.64}^{+ 0.37}$
2014	${20.21}_{- 0.69}^{+ 0.39}$
2015	${20.44}_{- 0.69}^{+ 0.40}$
2016	${20.61}_{- 0.70}^{+ 0.40}$
2017	${21.00}_{- 0.71}^{+ 0.41}$
2018	${21.37}_{- 0.72}^{+ 0.42}$

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/tellusb.1875 | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

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Language: English

Page range: 65 - 75

Submitted on: Nov 16, 2023

Accepted on: Nov 20, 2023

Published on: Dec 15, 2023

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

Atmospheric oxygen,

carbon cycle,

industrial atmospheric fluxes,

carbon budget

© 2023 Mark O. Battle, A. Raine Raynor, Stephen E. Kesler, Ralph F. Keeling, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 75 (2023): Issue 1

The Impact of Industrial Activity on the Amount of Atmospheric O2

Figures & Tables

Table 1

Figure 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

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