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Net carbon emissions from African biosphere dominate pan-tropical atmospheric CO2 signal

Author

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  • Paul I. Palmer

    (University of Edinburgh
    National Centre for Earth Observation at the University of Edinburgh)

  • Liang Feng

    (University of Edinburgh
    National Centre for Earth Observation at the University of Edinburgh)

  • David Baker

    (Colorado State University)

  • Frédéric Chevallier

    (Université Paris-Saclay)

  • Hartmut Bösch

    (University of Leicester
    National Centre for Earth Observation at the University of Leicester)

  • Peter Somkuti

    (University of Leicester
    National Centre for Earth Observation at the University of Leicester)

Abstract

Tropical ecosystems are large carbon stores that are vulnerable to climate change. The sparseness of ground-based measurements has precluded verification of these ecosystems being a net annual source (+ve) or sink (−ve) of atmospheric carbon. We show that two independent satellite data sets of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), interpreted using independent models, are consistent with the land tropics being a net annual carbon emission of $$({\mathrm{median}}_{{\mathrm{minimum}}}^{{\mathrm{maximum}}})$$ ( median minimum maximum ) $$1.03_{ - 0.20}^{ + 1.73}$$ 1.0 3 - 0.20 + 1.73 and $$1.60_{ + 1.39}^{ + 2.11}$$ 1.6 0 + 1.39 + 2.11 petagrams (PgC) in 2015 and 2016, respectively. These pan-tropical estimates reflect unexpectedly large net emissions from tropical Africa of $$1.48_{ + 0.80}^{ + 1.95}$$ 1.4 8 + 0.80 + 1.95 PgC in 2015 and $$1.65_{ + 1.14}^{ + 2.42}$$ 1.6 5 + 1.14 + 2.42 PgC in 2016. The largest carbon uptake is over the Congo basin, and the two loci of carbon emissions are over western Ethiopia and western tropical Africa, where there are large soil organic carbon stores and where there has been substantial land use change. These signals are present in the space-borne CO2 record from 2009 onwards.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul I. Palmer & Liang Feng & David Baker & Frédéric Chevallier & Hartmut Bösch & Peter Somkuti, 2019. "Net carbon emissions from African biosphere dominate pan-tropical atmospheric CO2 signal," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-11097-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11097-w
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    Cited by:

    1. Kang, Jia-Ning & Wei, Yi-Ming & Liu, Lan-Cui & Han, Rong & Yu, Bi-Ying & Wang, Jin-Wei, 2020. "Energy systems for climate change mitigation: A systematic review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    2. Liang Feng & Paul I. Palmer & Sihong Zhu & Robert J. Parker & Yi Liu, 2022. "Tropical methane emissions explain large fraction of recent changes in global atmospheric methane growth rate," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. 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.
    4. Paolo Prosperi & Mario Bloise & Francesco N. Tubiello & Giulia Conchedda & Simone Rossi & Luigi Boschetti & Mirella Salvatore & Martial Bernoux, 2020. "New estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from biomass burning and peat fires using MODIS Collection 6 burned areas," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 415-432, August.

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