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Climate change
About: Climate change is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 99222 publications have been published within this topic receiving 3572006 citations.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors derived a forest drought-stress index (FDSI) for the southwestern United States using a comprehensive tree-ring data set representing AD 1000-2007, which is approximately equally influenced by the warm-season vapour-pressure deficit (largely controlled by temperature) and cold-season precipitation, together explaining 82% of the FDSI variability.
Abstract: As the climate changes, drought may reduce tree productivity and survival across many forest ecosystems; however, the relative influence of specific climate parameters on forest decline is poorly understood. We derive a forest drought-stress index (FDSI) for the southwestern United States using a comprehensive tree-ring data set representing AD 1000–2007. The FDSI is approximately equally influenced by the warm-season vapour-pressure deficit (largely controlled by temperature) and cold-season precipitation, together explaining 82% of the FDSI variability. Correspondence between the FDSI and measures of forest productivity, mortality, bark-beetle outbreak and wildfire validate the FDSI as a holistic forest-vigour indicator. If the vapour-pressure deficit continues increasing as projected by climate models, the mean forest drought-stress by the 2050s will exceed that of the most severe droughts in the past 1,000 years. Collectively, the results foreshadow twenty-first-century changes in forest structures and compositions, with transition of forests in the southwestern United States, and perhaps water-limited forests globally, towards distributions unfamiliar to modern civilization. As the global climate changes, drought is expected to reduce productivity and tree survival across many forests; however, the relative influence of climate variables on forest decline remains poorly understood. A drought-stress index based on tree-ring data—newly developed for the southwestern United States—is found to be equally influenced by evaporation (primarily temperature driven) and precipitation and may serve as a holistic forest-vigour indicator in water-limited forests.
1,562 citations
TL;DR: The forest biome of Amazonia is one of Earth's greatest biological treasures and a major component of the Earth system, and this century, it faces the dual threats of deforestation and stress from climate change.
Abstract: The forest biome of Amazonia is one of Earth's greatest biological treasures and a major component of the Earth system. This century, it faces the dual threats of deforestation and stress from climate change. Here, we summarize some of the latest findings and thinking on these threats, explore the consequences for the forest ecosystem and its human residents, and outline options for the future of Amazonia. We also discuss the implications of new proposals to finance preservation of Amazonian forests.
1,552 citations
TL;DR: Records from multiple long-term monitoring plots across Amazonia are used to assess forest responses to the intense 2005 drought, a possible analog of future events that may accelerate climate change through carbon losses and changed surface energy balances.
Abstract: Amazon forests are a key but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. If, as anticipated, they dry this century, they might accelerate climate change through carbon losses and changed surface energy balances. We used records from multiple long-term monitoring plots across Amazonia to assess forest responses to the intense 2005 drought, a possible analog of future events. Affected forest lost biomass, reversing a large long-term carbon sink, with the greatest impacts observed where the dry season was unusually intense. Relative to pre-2005 conditions, forest subjected to a 100-millimeter increase in water deficit lost 5.3 megagrams of aboveground biomass of carbon per hectare. The drought had a total biomass carbon impact of 1.2 to 1.6 petagrams (1.2 × 1015 to 1.6 × 1015 grams). Amazon forests therefore appear vulnerable to increasing moisture stress, with the potential for large carbon losses to exert feedback on climate change.
1,545 citations
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research1, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology2, University of Edinburgh3, Free University of Berlin4, ETH Zurich5, Université catholique de Louvain6, École Polytechnique7, University of Bristol8, Russian Academy of Sciences9, University of Birmingham10
TL;DR: The authors used selected proxy-based reconstructions of different climate variables, together with state-of-the-art time series of natural forcings (orbital variations, solar activity variations, large tropical volcanic eruptions, land cover and greenhouse gases), underpinned by results from GCMs and Earth System Models of Intermediate Complexity (EMICs), to establish a comprehensive explanatory framework for climate changes from the mid-Holocene (MH) to pre-industrial time.
1,539 citations
University College London1, University of Texas at Austin2, Goethe University Frankfurt3, Goddard Space Flight Center4, Utrecht University5, University of Rennes6, James Cook University7, University of California, Irvine8, University of Oxford9, United States Geological Survey10, United States Department of Agriculture11, Sun Yat-sen University12, British Geological Survey13, Rutgers University14, Colorado School of Mines15, San Francisco State University16, Simon Fraser University17, University of East Anglia18, Cranfield University19
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors critically review recent research assessing the impacts of climate on ground water through natural and human-induced processes as well as through groundwater-driven feedbacks on the climate system, and highlight the possible opportunities and challenges of using and sustaining groundwater resources in climate adaptation strategies.
Abstract: As the world's largest distributed store of fresh water, ground water plays a central part in sustaining ecosystems and enabling human adaptation to climate variability and change. The strategic importance of ground water for global water and food security will probably intensify under climate change as more frequent and intense climate extremes (droughts and floods) increase variability in precipitation, soil moisture and surface water. Here we critically review recent research assessing the impacts of climate on ground water through natural and human-induced processes as well as through groundwater-driven feedbacks on the climate system. Furthermore, we examine the possible opportunities and challenges of using and sustaining groundwater resources in climate adaptation strategies, and highlight the lack of groundwater observations, which, at present, limits our understanding of the dynamic relationship between ground water and climate.
1,536 citations