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Sensitivity of atmospheric CO2 growth rate to observed changes in terrestrial water storage

Author

Listed:
  • Vincent Humphrey

    (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich)

  • Jakob Zscheischler

    (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich)

  • Philippe Ciais

    (Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CEA CNRS UVSQ)

  • Lukas Gudmundsson

    (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich)

  • Stephen Sitch

    (College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter)

  • Sonia I. Seneviratne

    (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich)

Abstract

Land ecosystems absorb on average 30 per cent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, thereby slowing the increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere1. Year-to-year variations in the atmospheric CO2 growth rate are mostly due to fluctuating carbon uptake by land ecosystems1. The sensitivity of these fluctuations to changes in tropical temperature has been well documented2–6, but identifying the role of global water availability has proved to be elusive. So far, the only usable proxies for water availability have been time-lagged precipitation anomalies and drought indices3–5, owing to a lack of direct observations. Here, we use recent observations of terrestrial water storage changes derived from satellite gravimetry7 to investigate terrestrial water effects on carbon cycle variability at global to regional scales. We show that the CO2 growth rate is strongly sensitive to observed changes in terrestrial water storage, drier years being associated with faster atmospheric CO2 growth. We demonstrate that this global relationship is independent of known temperature effects and is underestimated in current carbon cycle models. Our results indicate that interannual fluctuations in terrestrial water storage strongly affect the terrestrial carbon sink and highlight the importance of the interactions between the water and carbon cycles.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent Humphrey & Jakob Zscheischler & Philippe Ciais & Lukas Gudmundsson & Stephen Sitch & Sonia I. Seneviratne, 2018. "Sensitivity of atmospheric CO2 growth rate to observed changes in terrestrial water storage," Nature, Nature, vol. 560(7720), pages 628-631, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:560:y:2018:i:7720:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0424-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0424-4
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Xiangzhong Luo & Trevor F. Keenan, 2022. "Tropical extreme droughts drive long-term increase in atmospheric CO2 growth rate variability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Kai Wang & Ana Bastos & Philippe Ciais & Xuhui Wang & Christian Rödenbeck & Pierre Gentine & Frédéric Chevallier & Vincent W. Humphrey & Chris Huntingford & Michael O’Sullivan & Sonia I. Seneviratne, 2022. "Regional and seasonal partitioning of water and temperature controls on global land carbon uptake variability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Peijun Li & Yuanyuan Zha & Liangsheng Shi & Hua Zhong & Chak-Hau Michael Tso & Mousong Wu, 2022. "Assessing the Global Relationships Between Teleconnection Factors and Terrestrial Water Storage Components," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(1), pages 119-133, January.
    4. Yuan Su & Shupeng Zhang, 2024. "Optimizing Parameters in the Common Land Model by Using Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Satellite Observations," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Wantong Li & Mirco Migliavacca & Matthias Forkel & Jasper M. C. Denissen & Markus Reichstein & Hui Yang & Gregory Duveiller & Ulrich Weber & Rene Orth, 2022. "Widespread increasing vegetation sensitivity to soil moisture," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. He, Bohao & Jia, Biying & Zhao, Yanghe & Wang, Xu & Wei, Mao & Dietzel, Ranae, 2022. "Estimate soil moisture of maize by combining support vector machine and chaotic whale optimization algorithm," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    7. Panxing He & Yiyan Zeng & Ningfei Wang & Zhiming Han & Xiaoyu Meng & Tong Dong & Xiaoliang Ma & Shangqian Ma & Jun Ma & Zongjiu Sun, 2023. "Early Evidence That Soil Dryness Causes Widespread Decline in Grassland Productivity in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, February.
    8. Yao Zhang & Pierre Gentine & Xiangzhong Luo & Xu Lian & Yanlan Liu & Sha Zhou & Anna M. Michalak & Wu Sun & Joshua B. Fisher & Shilong Piao & Trevor F. Keenan, 2022. "Increasing sensitivity of dryland vegetation greenness to precipitation due to rising atmospheric CO2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Wenmin Zhang & Guy Schurgers & Josep Peñuelas & Rasmus Fensholt & Hui Yang & Jing Tang & Xiaowei Tong & Philippe Ciais & Martin Brandt, 2023. "Recent decrease of the impact of tropical temperature on the carbon cycle linked to increased precipitation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. Hou, Dawei & Meng, Fanhao & Ji, Chao & Xie, Li & Zhu, Wenjuan & Wang, Shizhong & Sun, Hua, 2022. "Linking food production and environmental outcomes: An application of a modified relative risk model to prioritize land-management practices," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

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