Global vegetation contains large carbon reserves that are vulnerable to climate change, and so will determine future atmospheric CO2
- Andrew Friend
Latest climate and biosphere modelling suggests that the length of time carbon remains in vegetation during the global carbon cycle - known as ‘residence time’ - is the key “uncertainty” in predicting how Earth’s plant life on land - and consequently almost all life - will respond to higher CO2 levels and global warming, say researchers.
Carbon will spend increasingly less time in vegetation as the negative impacts of climate change take their toll through factors such as increased drought levels - with carbon rapidly released back into the atmosphere where it will continue to add to global warming.
Researchers say that extensive modelling shows a 4 degree temperature rise will be the threshold beyond which CO2 will start to increase more rapidly, as natural carbon ‘sinks’ of global vegetation become “saturated” and unable to sequester any more CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere.
They call for a “change in research priorities” away from the broad-stroke production of plants and towards carbon ‘residence time’ - which is little understood - and the interaction of different kinds of vegetation in ecosystems such as carbon sinks.
Read the full story
Image Credit: Joshua Mayer via Flickr
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
______________________________________________