Effects of regional afforestation on global climate

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ye Wang ◽  
Xiaodong Yan ◽  
Zhaomin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Heat Transport ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport ◽  
Noticeable Increase ◽  
Global Impacts ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Biogeophysical Feedbacks

Carbon (C) sequestration following afforestation is regarded as economically, politically, and technically feasible for fighting global warming, whereas the afforested area which will contribute more efficiently as sinks for CO2 is still uncertain. To compare the benefits for C sequestration combined with its biogeochemical effects, an earth system model of intermediate complexity, the McGill Paleoclimate Model-2 (MPM-2) is used to identify the biogeophysical effects of regional afforestation on shaping global climate. An increase in forest in China has led to a prominent global warming during summer around 45° N. Conversely, the forest expansion in the USA causes a noticeable increase in global mean annual temperature during winter. Afforestation in the USA and China brings about a decrease in annual mean meridional oceanic heat transport, while the afforestation in low latitudes of the southern hemisphere causes an increase. These local and global impacts suggest that regional tree plantations may produce a differential effect on the Earth's climate, and even exert an opposite effect on the annual mean meridional oceanic heat transport; they imply that its spatial variation of biogeophysical feedbacks needs to be considered when evaluating the benefits of afforestation.

scholarly journals Impact of Anomalous Northward Oceanic Heat Transport on Global Climate in a Slab Ocean Setting

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2650-2664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blandine L’Hévéder ◽  
Francis Codron ◽  
Michael Ghil
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Storm Tracks ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport ◽  
The North ◽  
Anomalous Surface ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Slab Ocean ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract This paper explores the impact of anomalous northward oceanic heat transport on global climate in a slab ocean setting. To that end, the GCM LMDZ5A of the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique is coupled to a slab ocean, with realistic zonal asymmetries and seasonal cycle. Two simulations with different anomalous surface heating are imposed: 1) uniform heating over the North Atlantic basin and 2) concentrated heating in the Gulf Stream region, with a compensating uniform cooling in the Southern Ocean in both cases. The magnitudes of the heating and of the implied northward interhemispheric heat transport are within the range of current natural variability. Both simulations show global effects that are particularly strong in the tropics, with a northward shift of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) toward the heating anomalies. This shift is accompanied by a northward shift of the storm tracks in both hemispheres. From the comparison between the two simulations with different anomalous surface heating in the North Atlantic, it emerges that the global climate response is nearly insensitive to the spatial distribution of the heating. The cloud response acts as a large positive feedback on the oceanic forcing, mainly because of the low-cloud-induced shortwave anomalies in the extratropics. While previous literature has speculated that the extratropical Q flux may impact the tropics by the way of the transient eddy fluxes, it is explicitly demonstrated here. In the midlatitudes, the authors find a systematic northward shift of the jets, as well as of the associated Ferrel cells, storm tracks, and precipitation bands.

scholarly journals A conceptual model of oceanic heat transport in the Snowball Earth scenario

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Comeau ◽  
D. A. Kurtze ◽  
J. M. Restrepo
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Heat Budget ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Complex Model ◽  
Snowball Earth ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport

Abstract. Geologic evidence suggests that the Earth may have been completely covered in ice in the distant past, a state known as Snowball Earth. This is still the subject of controversy, and has been the focus of modeling work from low dimensional models up to state of the art general circulation models. In our present global climate, the ocean plays a large role in redistributing heat from the equatorial regions to high latitudes, and as an important part of the global heat budget, its role in the initiation a Snowball Earth, and the subsequent climate, is of great interest. To better understand the role of oceanic heat transport in the initiation of Snowball Earth, and the resulting global ice covered climate state, the goal of this inquiry is two-fold: we wish to propose the least complex model that can capture the Snowball scenario as well as the present day climate with partial ice cover, and we want to determine the relative importance of oceanic heat transport. To do this, we develop a simple model, incorporating thermohaline dynamics from traditional box ocean models, a radiative balance from energy balance models, as well as the more contemporary "sea glacier" model to account for viscous flow effects of extremely thick sea ice. The resulting model, consisting of dynamic ocean and ice components, is able to reproduce both Snowball Earth as well as present day conditions through reasonable changes in forcing parameters. We find that including or neglecting oceanic heat transport may lead to vastly different global climate states, and also that the parameterization of under ice heat transfer in the ice/ocean coupling, plays a key role in the resulting global climate state, demonstrating the regulatory effect of dynamic ocean heat transport. Furthermore we find that the ocean circulation direction exhibits bistability in the Snowball Earth regime.

scholarly journals Weakening of the Atlantic Niño variability under global warming

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lander Crespo
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Model Errors ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Global Impacts ◽  
Atlantic Niño

Abstract The Atlantic Niño is one of the most important tropical patterns of interannual climate variability, with major regional and global impacts. How global warming will influence the Atlantic Niño has been hardly explored, because of large climate model errors. We show for the first time that the state-of-the-art climate models robustly predict that equatorial Atlantic Niño variability will weaken in response to global warming. This is primarily because subsurface and surface temperature variations decouple as the upper equatorial Atlantic Ocean warms. The weakening is predicted by most (>80%) models following the highest emission scenarios in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phases 5 and 6 considered here. These indicate a reduction in variability by the end of the century of 12-17%, and as much as 25% when accounting for model errors. Weaker Atlantic Niño variability will have major consequences for global climate and the skill of seasonal predictions.

scholarly journals A conceptual model of oceanic heat transport in the Snowball Earth scenario

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 937-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darin Comeau ◽  
Douglas A. Kurtze ◽  
Juan M. Restrepo
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Heat Budget ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Complex Model ◽  
Snowball Earth ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Oceanic Heat Transport ◽  
Low Dimensional

Abstract. Geologic evidence suggests that the Earth may have been completely covered in ice in the distant past, a state known as Snowball Earth. This is still the subject of controversy, and has been the focus of modeling work from low-dimensional models up to state-of-the-art general circulation models. In our present global climate, the ocean plays a large role in redistributing heat from the equatorial regions to high latitudes, and as an important part of the global heat budget, its role in the initiation a Snowball Earth, and the subsequent climate, is of great interest. To better understand the role of oceanic heat transport in the initiation of Snowball Earth, and the resulting global ice covered climate state, the goal of this inquiry is twofold: we wish to propose the least complex model that can capture the Snowball Earth scenario as well as the present-day climate with partial ice cover, and we want to determine the relative importance of oceanic heat transport. To do this, we develop a simple model, incorporating thermohaline dynamics from traditional box ocean models, a radiative balance from energy balance models, and the more contemporary "sea glacier" model to account for viscous flow effects of extremely thick sea ice. The resulting model, consisting of dynamic ocean and ice components, is able to reproduce both Snowball Earth and present-day conditions through reasonable changes in forcing parameters. We find that including or neglecting oceanic heat transport may lead to vastly different global climate states, and also that the parameterization of under-ice heat transfer in the ice–ocean coupling plays a key role in the resulting global climate state, demonstrating the regulatory effect of dynamic ocean heat transport.

scholarly journals Synergistic impacts of global warming and thermohaline circulation collapse on amphibians

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julián A. Velasco ◽  
Francisco Estrada ◽  
Oscar Calderón-Bustamante ◽  
Didier Swingedouw ◽  
Carolina Ureta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Thermohaline Circulation ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Climate Conditions

AbstractImpacts on ecosystems and biodiversity are a prominent area of research in climate change. However, little is known about the effects of abrupt climate change and climate catastrophes on them. The probability of occurrence of such events is largely unknown but the associated risks could be large enough to influence global climate policy. Amphibians are indicators of ecosystems’ health and particularly sensitive to novel climate conditions. Using state-of-the-art climate model simulations, we present a global assessment of the effects of unabated global warming and a collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) on the distribution of 2509 amphibian species across six biogeographical realms and extinction risk categories. Global warming impacts are severe and strongly enhanced by additional and substantial AMOC weakening, showing tipping point behavior for many amphibian species. Further declines in climatically suitable areas are projected across multiple clades, and biogeographical regions. Species loss in regional assemblages is extensive across regions, with Neotropical, Nearctic and Palearctic regions being most affected. Results underline the need to expand existing knowledge about the consequences of climate catastrophes on human and natural systems to properly assess the risks of unabated warming and the benefits of active mitigation strategies.

scholarly journals Regions of intensification of extreme snowfall under future warming

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lennart Quante ◽  
Sven N. Willner ◽  
Robin Middelanis ◽  
Anders Levermann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Average Intensity ◽  
High Latitudes ◽  
Future Warming

AbstractDue to climate change the frequency and character of precipitation are changing as the hydrological cycle intensifies. With regards to snowfall, global warming has two opposing influences; increasing humidity enables intense snowfall, whereas higher temperatures decrease the likelihood of snowfall. Here we show an intensification of extreme snowfall across large areas of the Northern Hemisphere under future warming. This is robust across an ensemble of global climate models when they are bias-corrected with observational data. While mean daily snowfall decreases, both the 99th and the 99.9th percentiles of daily snowfall increase in many regions in the next decades, especially for Northern America and Asia. Additionally, the average intensity of snowfall events exceeding these percentiles as experienced historically increases in many regions. This is likely to pose a challenge to municipalities in mid to high latitudes. Overall, extreme snowfall events are likely to become an increasingly important impact of climate change in the next decades, even if they will become rarer, but not necessarily less intense, in the second half of the century.

scholarly journals Reference carbon cycle dataset for typical Chinese forests via colocated observations and data assimilation

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Honglin He ◽  
Rong Ge ◽  
Xiaoli Ren ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Qingqing Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Soil Biology ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Ecosystem Research ◽  
Organic C ◽  
C Cycle

AbstractChinese forests cover most of the representative forest types in the Northern Hemisphere and function as a large carbon (C) sink in the global C cycle. The availability of long-term C dynamics observations is key to evaluating and understanding C sequestration of these forests. The Chinese Ecosystem Research Network has conducted normalized and systematic monitoring of the soil-biology-atmosphere-water cycle in Chinese forests since 2000. For the first time, a reference dataset of the decadal C cycle dynamics was produced for 10 typical Chinese forests after strict quality control, including biomass, leaf area index, litterfall, soil organic C, and the corresponding meteorological data. Based on these basic but time-discrete C-cycle elements, an assimilated dataset of key C cycle parameters and time-continuous C sequestration functions was generated via model-data fusion, including C allocation, turnover, and soil, vegetation, and ecosystem C storage. These reference data could be used as a benchmark for model development, evaluation and C cycle research under global climate change for typical forests in the Northern Hemisphere.

Diatoms in Saline Lakes Paleoclimate and Paleoecology Interpretations

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 149-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik J. Ekdahl
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Ionic Concentration ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Environmental Response

Average global temperatures are predicted to rise over the next century and changes in precipitation, humidity, and drought frequency will likely accompany this global warming. Understanding associated changes in continental precipitation and temperature patterns in response to global change is an important component of long-range environmental planning. For example, agricultural management plans that account for decreased precipitation over time will be less susceptible to the effects of drought through implementation of water conservation techniques.A detailed understanding of environmental response to past climate change is key to understanding environmental changes associated with global climate change. To this end, diatoms are sensitive to a variety of limnologic parameters, including nutrient concentration, light availability, and the ionic concentration and composition of the waters that they live in (e.g. salinity). Diatoms from numerous environments have been used to reconstruct paleosalinity levels, which in turn have been used as a proxy records for regional and local paleoprecipitation. Long-term records of salinity or paleoprecipitation are valuable in reconstructing Quaternary paleoclimate, and are important in terms of developing mitigation strategies for future global climate change. High-resolution paleoclimate records are also important in groundtruthing global climate simulations, especially in regions where the consequences of global warming may be severe.

Carbon stocks in Tasmanian soils

Soil Research ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. Cotching
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Initial Soil ◽  
If Current ◽  
Intensive Cropping ◽  
The Difference

Soil carbon (C) stocks were calculated for Tasmanian soil orders to 0.3 and 1.0 m depth from existing datasets. Tasmanian soils have C stocks of 49–117 Mg C/ha in the upper 0.3 m, with Ferrosols having the largest soil C stocks. Mean soil C stocks in agricultural soils were significantly lower under intensive cropping than under irrigated pasture. The range in soil C within soil orders indicates that it is critical to determine initial soil C stocks at individual sites and farms for C accounting and trading purposes, because the initial soil C content will determine if current or changed management practices are likely to result in soil C sequestration or emission. The distribution of C within the profile was significantly different between agricultural and forested land, with agricultural soils having two-thirds of their soil C in the upper 0.3 m, compared with half for forested soils. The difference in this proportion between agricultural and forested land was largest in Dermosols (0.72 v. 0.47). The total amount of soil C in a soil to 1.0 m depth may not change with a change in land use, but the distribution can and any change in soil C deeper in the profile might affect how soil C can be managed for sequestration. Tasmanian soil C stocks are significantly greater than those in mainland states of Australia, reflecting the lower mean annual temperature and higher precipitation in Tasmania, which result in less oxidation of soil organic matter.

On the Ethics of International Religious/Spiritual Gatherings and Academic Conferencing in the Era of Global Warming: A Case Study of the Parliament of The World’s Religions Melbourne 2009 - Part 1

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-195
Author(s):  
Almut Beringer ◽  
Steven Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Peak Oil ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Academic Events ◽  
Special Responsibility

Global climate change and its impacts have ethical dimensions, for instance carbon footprint equity concerns. World issues, including the state of the ecosphere and biodiver­sity, regularly see political leaders, NGOs, business representatives, religious/spiritual orga­nizations, academics, and others engage in international aviation-dependent meetings to address critical challenges facing humanity and the planet. Yet, climate scientists and advocates call for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 to cap the increase in global temperatures to 2ºC. Aviation emissions resulting from international meetings raise questions that are not silenced by GHG emissions offsetting. The era of climate change and ‘peak oil’ poses ethical challenges for holding international in-person religious and academic events, especially when the events propound an environmentalist concern and when aviation use is assumed. This paper raises ques­tions regarding the ecological impacts of large international events and focuses the ‘inconvenient truths’ associated with international aviation in the era of global warming. The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the largest multifaith gathering in the world, serves as a case study. The paper emphasizes the view that faith-based/faith-inspired organizations have a special responsibility for leadership in policy and praxis on the moral imperatives of sustainability, sustainable development and climate justice.

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