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1.
General circulation models indicate substantial CO2 warming in high latitudes. In these regions, which include the boreal coniferous forests, the activity of ecosystems is largely controlled by temperature. The effective temperature sum (degree-days) is used in this study for describing the regional variability in the productivity of boreal ecosystems. Although the concept is simple, it takes into account two basic factors: the length of the growing season and the day-to-day level of activity of the ecosystem. This study examines which areas in the boreal coniferous forests would be most sensitive to a possible climatic warming. The data used in the study are for Finland.A regression is estimated between regional forest growth rate and effective temperature sum. A climatic warming is assumed and the corresponding growth response is calculated, using the regression, for northern and southern areas, and for maritime and continental areas. The response is expressed in terms of (i) absolute increase in growth (grams per m2 per year) and (ii) relative increase in growth. The results indicate that a given climatic warming would yield the greatest absolute increase in growth in warm (i.e. southern) and maritime parts of the biome. In terms of the relative growth response the sensitivity would increase northward and toward maritime areas.  相似文献   

2.
An idealized coupled general circulation model is used to demonstrate that the surface warming due to the doubling of CO2 can still be stronger in high latitudes than in low latitudes even without the negative evaporation feedback in low latitudes and positive ice-albedo feedback in high latitudes, as well as without the poleward latent heat transport. The new climate feedback analysis method formulated in Lu and Cai (Clim Dyn 32:873–885, 2009) is used to isolate contributions from both radiative and non-radiative feedback processes to the total temperature change obtained with the coupled GCM. These partial temperature changes are additive and their sum is convergent to the total temperature change. The radiative energy flux perturbations due to the doubling of CO2 and water vapor feedback lead to a stronger warming in low latitudes than in high latitudes at the surface and throughout the entire troposphere. In the vertical, the temperature changes due to the doubling of CO2 and water vapor feedback are maximum near the surface and decrease with height at all latitudes. The simultaneous warming reduction in low latitudes and amplification in high latitudes by the enhanced poleward dry static energy transport reverses the poleward decreasing warming pattern at the surface and in the lower troposphere, but it is not able to do so in the upper troposphere. The enhanced vertical moist convection in the tropics acts to amplify the warming in the upper troposphere at an expense of reducing the warming in the lower troposphere and surface warming in the tropics. As a result, the final warming pattern shows the co-existence of a reduction of the meridional temperature gradient at the surface and in the lower troposphere with an increase of the meridional temperature gradient in the upper troposphere. In the tropics, the total warming in the upper troposphere is stronger than the surface warming.  相似文献   

3.
Abstract

Cloud amount records for the Canadian mid‐latitudes have been analysed in the context of a “warming world” analogue model that compares records of two 20‐year periods. The cloud amounts increase over practically all these regions while temperatures rise. This historical data set has also been extended temporally to permit analysis of high‐latitude cloudiness trends. These are of particular interest in the “fingerprinting” of CO2‐induced climatic change. Station records from the Canadian Arctic show distinctive increases in total cloud amount in the last forty years especially in the summer season. This result, unlike the historical analogue analysis, seems to be decoupled from temperature changes.  相似文献   

4.
Terrestrial ecosystems are an important part of Earth systems, and they are undergoing remarkable changes in response to global warming. This study investigates the response of the terrestrial vegetation distribution and carbon fluxes to global warming by using the new dynamic global vegetation model in the second version of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Earth System Model (CAS-ESM2). We conducted two sets of simulations, a present-day simulation and a future simulation, which were forced by the present-day climate during 1981–2000 and the future climate during 2081–2100, respectively, as derived from RCP8.5 outputs in CMIP5. CO2 concentration is kept constant in all simulations to isolate CO2-fertilization effects. The results show an overall increase in vegetation coverage in response to global warming, which is the net result of the greening in the mid-high latitudes and the browning in the tropics. The results also show an enhancement in carbon fluxes in response to global warming, including gross primary productivity, net primary productivity, and autotrophic respiration. We found that the changes in vegetation coverage were significantly correlated with changes in surface air temperature, reflecting the dominant role of temperature, while the changes in carbon fluxes were caused by the combined effects of leaf area index, temperature, and precipitation. This study applies the CAS-ESM2 to investigate the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate warming. Even though the interpretation of the results is limited by isolating CO2-fertilization effects, this application is still beneficial for adding to our understanding of vegetation processes and to further improve upon model parameterizations.  相似文献   

5.
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6.
The dominant influence on global climate for the indefinite future is expected to be a warming in the middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres. The speed of the warming is uncertain. The warming in winter may exceed 1.0 degree per decade. The warming in summer is expected to be less. The cause is the accumulation of infra-red absorptive gases, especially CO2 and CH4, in the atmosphere. The sources are the combustion of fossil fuels, the destruction of forests and their soils, and, possibly, the warming itself, which can be expected to stimulate decay of organic matter in soils. The warming in these latitudes is expected to be accompanied by increased precipitation as climatic zones migrate generally poleward. A 1 °C change in mean temperature is equivalent to a change in latitude of 100–150 km. The changes expected are rapid enough to exceed the capacity of forests to migrate or otherwise adapt. Forest trees will die at their warmer and drier limits of distribution more rapidly than forests can be regenerated in regions where climates become favorable. The destruction of forests will add further to the releases of C to the atmosphere. There is no equivalent countervailing storage that has been identified. The result suggests that a significant enhancement of the warming beyond current predictions is to be expected. An open-ended, accelerating warming of the Earth at rates that bring rapid changes in climatic zones, drive forests to impoverishment, and raise sea level rapidly is beyond the limits of simple adjustments of the human enterprise. Steps to stabilize the atmospheric composition seem inevitable. Because the total emissions of C to the atmosphere are not known, the current rate of transfer from the atmosphere to the oceans is uncertain. But whatever the current total release to the atmosphere, the annual atmospheric increase is about 3.0 G-tons of C as CO2. At least three possibilities exist for reducing or eliminating the imbalance and moving toward long-term stability:
  1. a reduction in the use of fossil fuels globally, now estimated as the source of about 5.6 G-tons of C annually;
  2. a reduction or cessation of deforestation, now estimated as releasing 1–3 G-tons annually;
  3. a vigorous program of reforestation that would remove from the atmosphere into storage in plants and soils about 1 G-ton of C annually for each 2 × 106 km2 tract reforested.
Further adjustments in emissions will be appropriate as experience accumulates. Such steps are appropriate now and possible. They will bring widespread ancillary benefits to the human enterprise.  相似文献   

7.
Wilhelm May 《Climate Dynamics》2008,31(2-3):283-313
In this study, concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases as well as the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are prescribed to the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled climate model so that the simulated global warming does not exceed 2°C relative to pre-industrial times. The climatic changes associated with this so-called “2°C-stabilization” scenario are assessed in further detail, considering a variety of meteorological and oceanic variables. The climatic changes associated with such a relatively weak climate forcing supplement the recently published fourth assessment report by the IPCC in that such a stabilization scenario can only be achieved by mitigation initiatives. Also, the impact of the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations on the simulated climatic changes is investigated. For this particular climate model, the 2°C-stabilization scenario is characterized by the following atmospheric concentrations of the well-mixed greenhouse gases: 418 ppm (CO2), 2,026 ppb (CH4), and 331 ppb (N2O), 786 ppt (CFC-11) and 486 ppt (CFC-12), respectively. These greenhouse gas concentrations correspond to those for 2020 according to the SRES A1B scenario. At the same time, the anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load and stratospheric ozone concentrations are changed to the level in 2100 (again, according to the SRES A1B scenario), with a global anthropogenic sulphur dioxide emission of 28 TgS/year leading to a global anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load of 0.23 TgS. The future changes in climate associated with the 2°C-stabilization scenario show many of the typical features of other climate change scenarios, including those associated with stronger climatic forcings. That are a pronounced warming, particularly at high latitudes accompanied by a marked reduction of the sea-ice cover, a substantial increase in precipitation in the tropics as well as at mid- and high latitudes in both hemispheres but a marked reduction in the subtropics, a significant strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient between the tropical upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere in the extratropics accompanied by a pronounced intensification of the westerly winds in the lower stratosphere, and a strengthening of the westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics throughout the troposphere. The magnitudes of these changes, however, are somewhat weaker than for the scenarios associated with stronger global warming due to stronger climatic forcings, such as the SRES A1B scenario. Some of the climatic changes associated with the 2°C-stabilization are relatively strong with respect to the magnitude of the simulated global warming, i.e., the pronounced warming and sea-ice reduction in the Arctic region, the strengthening of the meridional temperature gradient at the northern high latitudes and the general increase in precipitation. Other climatic changes, i.e., the El Niño like warming pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean and the corresponding changes in the distribution of precipitation in the tropics and in the Southern Oscillation, are not as markedly pronounced as for the scenarios with a stronger global warming. A higher anthropogenic sulphate aerosol load (for 2030 as compared to the level in 2100 according to the SRES A1B scenario) generally weakens the future changes in climate, particularly for precipitation. The most pronounced effects occur in the Northern Hemisphere and in the tropics, where also the main sources of anthropogenic sulphate aerosols are located.  相似文献   

8.
A physical model was developed for describing the thermal environment of ponded shallow water as a model for rice fields in relation to climatic conditions. The model was used to assess probable effects of CO2-induced warming on the thermal conditions of ponded shallow water. It was assumed that an altered equilibrium climate was produced by atmospheric CO2 which was twice that of present levels. The 1951–80 climatic means of Japan were used as baseline data. Water temperature and energy balance characteristics predicted from the model were compared between both climates. The most notable results were that water temperature under CO2 doubling rose 2 to 4 °C. These increases in temperature would induce a remarkable northward shift of the 15 °C isotherm which characterizes the isochrone of safe transplanting dates for rice seedlings. CO2-warming would have a considerable influence on the energy balance characteristics, intensifying the evaporation rate from the water surface. Changes in thermal conditions of rice fields due to CO2-induced climatic warming are, therefore, expected to bring about significant effects on aquatic environments and the life forms they support.  相似文献   

9.
We use a coupled climate–carbon cycle model of intermediate complexity to investigate scenarios of stratospheric sulfur injections as a measure to compensate for CO2-induced global warming. The baseline scenario includes the burning of 5,000 GtC of fossil fuels. A full compensation of CO2-induced warming requires a load of about 13 MtS in the stratosphere at the peak of atmospheric CO2 concentration. Keeping global warming below 2°C reduces this load to 9 MtS. Compensation of CO2 forcing by stratospheric aerosols leads to a global reduction in precipitation, warmer winters in the high northern latitudes and cooler summers over northern hemisphere landmasses. The average surface ocean pH decreases by 0.7, reducing the calcifying ability of marine organisms. Because of the millennial persistence of the fossil fuel CO2 in the atmosphere, high levels of stratospheric aerosol loading would have to continue for thousands of years until CO2 was removed from the atmosphere. A termination of stratospheric aerosol loading results in abrupt global warming of up to 5°C within several decades, a vulnerability of the Earth system to technological failure.  相似文献   

10.
 Four transient GCM experiments simulating the climatic response to gradually increasing CO2, and two equilibrium doubled CO2 experiments are compared. The zonally symmetric and asymmetric features of climate are both examined. Surface air temperature, sea level pressure, the 500 mb height and the relative topography between 500 and 1000 mb are analyzed. In the control simulations, the broad aspects of the present climate are in most cases well reproduced, although the stationary eddies tend to be less reliably simulated than the zonal means. However, the agreement between the four transient experiments on the geographical patterns of climate change is less impressive. While some zonally symmetric features, in particular the meridional distribution of surface air warming in the boreal winter, are rather similar in all models, the intermodel cross correlations for the zonally asymmetric changes are low. The agreement is largely restricted to some very general features such as more warming over the continents than over the oceans. The largest discrepancies between the two equilibrium-doubled CO2 experiments and the transient experiments are found at the high southern latitudes, in particular in the austral winter. To identify the most robust geographical patterns of change in the transient experiments, the standard t test is used to determine if the four-model mean change is significantly above or below the global mean. Received: 18 January 1996 / Accepted: 5 July 1996  相似文献   

11.
Measured and projected increases in carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere point towards a significant global warming. The regional effects of such a warming will be of primary importance in determining the social and economic consequences. Four methods of arriving at tentative regional scenarios are discussed and illustrated by application to Australia and New Zealand. Methods used include numerical modelling, extreme warm and cold year ensembles, dynamical/empirical reasoning and palaeoclimatic reconstructions from the Hypsithermal. A surprising degree of consistency is revealed between the various approaches to a scenario for a CO2-warmed Earth and the climatic conditions which prevailed during the Hypsithermal. The best overall analogy to a CO2-warmed Earth seems to be this epoch, especially as recent evidence suggests it to be one of higher CO2 concentrations. High priority should be given to further investigations using numerical models which include an interactive dynamic ocean and hydrologic cycle including variable cloudiness, as well as more detailed reconstruction of climatic conditions during the Hypsithermal in areas sensitive to any circulation changes.  相似文献   

12.
Grassland is one of the most widespread vegetation types worldwide and plays a significant role in regional climate and global carbon cycling. Understanding the sensitivity of Chinese grassland ecosystems to climate change and elevated atmospheric CO2 and the effect of these changes on the grassland ecosystems is a key issue in global carbon cycling. China encompasses vast grassland areas of 354 million ha of 17 major grassland types, according to a national grassland survey. In this study, a process-based terrestrial model the CENTURY model was used to simulate potential changes in net primary productivity (NPP) and soil organic carbon (SOC) of the Leymus chinensis meadow steppe (LCMS) under different scenarios of climatic change and elevated atmospheric CO2. The LCMS sensitivities, its potential responses to climate change, and the change in capacity of carbon stock and sequestration in the future are evaluated. The results showed that the LCMS NPP and SOC are sensitive to climatic change and elevated CO2. In the next 100 years, with doubled CO2 concentration, if temperature increases from 2.7-3.9˚C and precipitation increases by 10% NPP and SOC will increase by 7-21% and 5-6% respectively. However, if temperature increases by 7.5-7.8˚C and precipitation increases by only 10% NPP and SOC would decrease by 24% and 8% respectively. Therefore, changes in the NPP and SOC of the meadow steppe are attributed mainly to the amount of temperature and precipitation change and the atmospheric CO2 concentration in the future.  相似文献   

13.
Results from a global coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM) are used to perform the first in a series of studies of the various time and space scales of climate anomalies in an environment of gradually increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) (a linear transient increase of 1% per year in the coupled model). Since observed climate anomaly patterns often are computed as time-averaged differences between two periods, climate-change signals in the coupled model are defined using differences of various averaging intervals between the transient and control integrations. Annual mean surface air temperature differences for several regions show that the Northern Hemisphere warms faster than the Southern Hemisphere and that land areas warm faster than ocean. The high northern latitudes outside the North Atlantic contribute most to global warming but also exhibit great variability, while the high southern latitudes contribute the least. The equatorial tropics warm more slowly than the subtropics due to strong upwelling and mixing in the ocean. The globally averaged surface air temperature trend computed from annual mean differences for years 23–60 is 0.03 C per year. Projecting this trend to the time of CO2 doubling in year 100 produces a warming of 2.3° C. By chance, one particular northern winter five-year average geographical difference pattern in the Northern Hemisphere from the coupled model resembles the recent observed pattern of surface temperature and sea-level pressure anomalies. This pattern is not consistent from one five-year period to the next in any season in the model. However, multidecadal averages in the coupled model show that the North Atlantic warms less than the rest of the high northern latitudes, and recent observations may be a manifestation of this phenomenon. Consistent geographic patterns of climate anomalies forced by increased CO2 in the model are more evident with a longer averaging interval. There is also the possibility that the CO2 climate-change signal may itself be a function of time and space. The general pattern of zonal mean temperature anomalies for all periods in the model shows warming in the troposphere and cooling in the stratosphere. This pattern (or one similar to it taking into account the rest of the trace gases) could be looked for in observations to verify the enhanced greenhouse effect. A zonal mean pattern, however, could prove scientifically satisfactory but of little value to policymakers seeking regional climate-change forecasts. These results from the coupled model underscore the difficulty in identifying a time- and space-dependent fingerprint of greenhouse warming that has some practical use from short climatic records and point to the need to understand the mechanisms of decadal-scale variability.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.  相似文献   

14.
《Climate Policy》2013,13(1):71-88
Abstract

Recent analyses continue to modify our understanding of terrestrial carbon sinks. The sinks are large and variable enough to account for much of the variability in the growth rate of atmospheric CO2. They are distributed throughout both northern mid-latitudes and the tropics. Identification of the factors influencing an observed sink is extremely difficult; methods for attribution are reviewed. Although various ecological mechanisms (e.g. CO2 fertilization, nitrogen deposition, climatic variability) have been shown experimentally to have short-term effects on physiological processes controlling the amount of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems, it is unclear which of these mechanisms has been most important in the past 10–100 years and which will be most important in the future. The decades-long supposition that CO2 fertilization has been a major driver of terrestrial carbon uptake is being challenged. A major portion of the sink in the northern mid-latitudes (although probably not in the tropics) is a result of recovery from past changes in land use and management. To the extent that these direct human actions explain most of the current (and future) sink, attribution and thus accounting become more tractable, but the continued functioning of the sink is limited and largely dependent on deliberate actions (e.g. afforestation, sustainable forest management and preservation).  相似文献   

15.
A coupled carbon cycle-climate model is used to compute global atmospheric CO2 and temperature variation that would result from several future CO2 emission scenarios. The model includes temperature and CO2 feedbacks on the terrestrial biosphere, and temperature feedback on the oceanic uptake of CO2. The scenarios used include cases in which fossil fuel CO2 emissions are held constant at the 1986 value or increase by 1% yr–1 until either 2000 or 2020, followed by a gradual transition to a rate of decrease of 1 or 2% yr–1. The climatic effect of increases in non-CO2 trace gases is included, and scenarios are considered in which these gases increase until 2075 or are stabilized once CO2 emission reductions begin. Low and high deforestation scenarios are also considered. In all cases, results are computed for equilibrium climatic sensitivities to CO2 doubling of 2.0 and 4.0 °C.Peak atmospheric CO2 concentrations of 400–500 ppmv and global mean warming after 1980 of 0.6–3.2 °C occur, with maximum rates of global mean warming of 0.2–0.3 °C decade–1. The peak CO2 concentrations in these scenarios are significantly below that commonly regarded as unavoidable; further sensitivity analyses suggest that limiting atmospheric CO2 to as little as 400 ppmv is a credible option.Two factors in the model are important in limiting atmospheric CO2: (1) the airborne fraction falls rapidly once emissions begin to decrease, so that total emissions (fossil fuel + land use-induced) need initially fall to only about half their present value in order to stabilize atmospheric CO2, and (2) changes in rates of deforestation have an immediate and proportional effect on gross emissions from the biosphere, whereas the CO2 sink due to regrowth of forests responds more slowly, so that decreases in the rate of deforestation have a disproportionately large effect on net emission.If fossil fuel emissions were to decrease at 1–2% yr–1 beginning early in the next century, emissions could decrease to the rate of CO2 uptake by the predominantly oceanic sink within 50–100 yrs. Simulation results suggest that if subsequent emission reductions were tied to the rate of CO2 uptake by natural CO2 sinks, these reductions could proceed more slowly than initially while preventing further CO2 increases, since the natural CO2 sink strength decreases on time scales of one to several centuries. The model used here does not account for the possible effect on atmospheric CO2 concentration of possible changes in oceanic circulation. Based on past rates of atmospheric CO2 variation determined from polar ice cores, it appears that the largest plausible perturbation in ocean-air CO2 flux due to changes of oceanic circulation is substantially smaller than the permitted fossil fuel CO2 emissions under the above strategy, so tieing fossil fuel emissions to the total sink strength could provide adequate flexibility for responding to unexpected changes in oceanic CO2 uptake caused by climatic warming-induced changes of oceanic circulation.  相似文献   

16.
A dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) is coupled to an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) to investigate the influence of vegetation dynamics on climate change under conditions of global warming. The model results are largely in agreement with observations and the results of previous studies in terms of the present climate, present potential vegetation, present net primary productivity (NPP), and pre-industrial carbon budgets. The equilibrium state of climate properties are compared among pre-industrial, doubled, and quadrupled atmospheric CO2 values using DGVM–AGCM and current AGCM with fixed vegetation to evaluate the influence of dynamic vegetation change. We also separated the contributions of temperature, precipitation and CO2 fertilization on vegetation change. The results reveal an amplification of global warming climate sensitivity by 10% due to the inclusion of dynamic vegetation. The total effects of elevated CO2 and climate change also lead to an increase in NPP and vegetation coverage globally. The reduction of albedo associated with this greening results in enhanced global warming. Our separation analysis indicates that temperature alters vegetation at high latitudes such as Siberia or Alaska, where there is a switch from tundra to forest. On the other hand, CO2 fertilization provides the largest contribution to greening in arid/semi-arid region. Precipitation change did not cause any drastic vegetation shift.  相似文献   

17.
The multi-component “green” McGill Paleoclimate Model (MPM), which includes interactive vegetation, is used to simulate the next glacial inception under orbital and prescribed atmospheric CO2 forcing. This intermediate complexity model is first run for short-term periods with an increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration; the model's response is in general agreement with the results of GCMs for CO2 doubling. The green MPM is then used to derive projections of the climate for the next 100 kyr. Under a constant CO2 level, the model produces three types of evolution for the ice volume: an imminent glacial inception (low CO2 levels), a glacial inception in 50 kyr (CO2 levels of 280 or 290 ppm), or no glacial inception during the next 100 kyr (CO2 levels of 300 ppm and higher). This high sensitivity to the CO2 level is due to the exceptionally weak future variations of the summer insolation at high northern latitudes. The changes in vegetation re-inforce the buildup of ice sheets after glacial inception. Finally, if an initial global warming episode of finite duration is included, after which the atmospheric CO2 level is assumed to stabilize at 280, 290 or 300 ppm, the impact of this warming is seen only in the first 5 kyr of the run; after this time the response is insensitive to the early warming perturbation.  相似文献   

18.
Annual Northern Hemisphere surface temperature departures for the past 300 yr were reconstructed using eleven tree-ring chronologies from high-latitude, boreal sites in Canada and Alaska, spanning over 90 degrees of longitude. This geographic coverage is believed to be adequate for a useful representation of hemispheric-scale temperature trends, as high northern latitudes are particularly sensitive to climatic change. We also present a reconstruction of Arctic annual temperatures. The reconstructions show a partial amelioration of the Little Ice Age after the early 1700's, an abrupt, severe renewal of cold in the early 1800's and a prolonged wanning since approximately 1840. These trends are supported by other proxy data. Similarities and differences between our Northern Hemisphere reconstruction and other large-scale proxy temperature records depend on such factors as the data sources, methods, and degree of spatial representation. Analyses of additional temperature records, as they become available, are needed to determine the degree to which each series represents fluctuations for the entire hemisphere. There appear to be relationships between trends observed in our Northern Hemisphere reconstruction and certain climatic forcing functions, including solar fluctuations, volcanic activity and atmospheric CO2. In particular, our reconstruction supports the hypothesis that the global warming trend over the past century of increasing atmospheric CO2 has exceeded the recent level of natural variability of the climate system.Of Columbia University Department of Geological Sciences.  相似文献   

19.
Biotic Feedbacks in the Warming of the Earth   总被引：16，自引：0，他引：16  
A positive correlation exists between temperature and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane over the last 220,000 years of glacial history, including two glacial and three interglacial periods. A similar correlation exists for the Little Ice Age and for contemporary data. Although the dominant processes responsible may be different over the three time periods, a warming trend, once established, appears to be consistently reinforced through the further accumulation of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere; a cooling trend is reinforced by a reduction in the release of heat-trapping gases. Over relatively short periods of years to decades, the correspondence between temperature and greenhouse gas concentrations may be due largely to changes in the metabolism of terrestrial ecosystems, whose respiration, including microbial respiration in soils, responds more sensitively, and with a greater total effect, to changes in temperature than does gross photosynthesis. Despite the importance of positive feedbacks and the recent rise in surface temperatures, terrestrial ecosystems seem to have been accumulating carbon over the last decades. The mechanisms responsible are thought to include increased nitrogen mobilization as a result of human activities, and two negative feedbacks: CO2 fertilization and the warming of the earth, itself, which is thought to lead to an accumulation of carbon on land through increased mineralization of nutrients and, as a result, increased plant growth. The relative importance of these mechanisms is unknown, but collectively they appear to have been more important over the last century than a positive feedback through warming-enhanced respiration. The recent rate of increase in temperature, however, leads to concern that we are entering a new phase in climate, one in which the enhanced greenhouse effect is emerging as the dominant influence on the temperature of the earth. Two observations support this concern. One is the negative correlation between temperature and global uptake of carbon by terrestrial ecosystems. The second is the positive correlation between temperature and the heat-trapping gas content of the atmosphere. While CO2 fertilization or nitrogen mobilization (either directly or through a warming-enhanced mineralization) may partially counter the effects of a warming-enhanced respiration, the effect of temperature on the metabolism of terrestrial ecosystems suggests that these processes will not entirely compensate for emissions of carbon resulting directly from industrial and land-use practices and indirectly from the warming itself. The magnitude of the positive feedback, releasing additional CO2, CH4, and N2O, is potentially large enough to affect the rate of warming significantly.  相似文献   

20.
The Anthropogenic Greenhouse Era Began Thousands of Years Ago   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  
The anthropogenic era is generally thought to have begun 150 to 200 years ago, when the industrial revolution began producing CO2 andCH4 at rates sufficient to alter their compositions in the atmosphere. A different hypothesis is posed here: anthropogenic emissions of these gases first altered atmospheric concentrations thousands of years ago. This hypothesis is based on three arguments. (1) Cyclic variations in CO2 andCH4 driven by Earth-orbital changes during the last 350,000 years predict decreases throughout the Holocene, but the CO2 trend began ananomalous increase 8000 years ago, and the CH4 trend did so 5000 years ago.(2) Published explanations for these mid- to late-Holocene gas increases basedon natural forcing can be rejected based on paleoclimatic evidence. (3) A wide array of archeological, cultural, historical and geologic evidence points to viable explanations tied to anthropogenic changes resulting from early agriculture in Eurasia, including the start of forest clearance by 8000 years ago and of rice irrigation by 5000 years ago. In recent millennia, the estimated warming caused by these early gas emissions reached a global-mean value of 0.8 °C and roughly 2 °C at high latitudes, large enough to have stopped a glaciation of northeastern Canada predicted by two kinds of climatic models. CO2 oscillations of 10 ppm in the last 1000 years are toolarge to be explained by external (solar-volcanic) forcing, but they can be explained by outbreaks of bubonic plague that caused historically documented farm abandonment in western Eurasia. Forest regrowth on abandoned farms sequestered enough carbon to account for the observed CO2decreases. Plague-driven CO2 changes were also a significant causal factor in temperature changes during the Little Ice Age (1300–1900 AD).  相似文献   

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