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Plant Respiration Could Become a Bigger Feedback on Climate Than Expected
New research, led by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, suggests that plant respiration is a larger source of carbon emissions than previously thought, and warns that, as the world warms, this may reduce the ability of Earth’s land surface to absorb emissions due to fossil fuel burning.
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Future climate change will affect plants and soil differently
A new European study has found that soil carbon loss is more sensitive to climate change compared to carbon taken up by plants. In drier regions, soil carbon loss decreased but in wetter regions soil carbon loss increased. This could result in a positive feedback to the atmosphere leading to an additional increase of atmospheric…
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Current atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations likely commit to warmings greater than 1.5C over land
Current levels of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations already commit the planet to air temperatures over many land regions being eventually warmed by greater than 1.5°C, according to new research published today (27 July 2016) in the journal Scientific Reports.The results of the new study have implications for international discussions of what constitutes safe global temperature thresholds,…