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Biophysical impacts of northern vegetation changes on seasonal warming patterns

Author

Listed:
  • Xu Lian

    (Peking University
    Columbia University)

  • Sujong Jeong

    (Seoul National University
    Seoul National University)

  • Chang-Eui Park

    (Korea Institute of Science and Technology)

  • Hao Xu

    (Peking University)

  • Laurent Z. X. Li

    (Ecole Polytechnique)

  • Tao Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Pierre Gentine

    (Columbia University
    Columbia University)

  • Josep Peñuelas

    (CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles
    CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra)

  • Shilong Piao

    (Peking University
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

The seasonal greening of Northern Hemisphere (NH) ecosystems, due to extended growing periods and enhanced photosynthetic activity, could modify near-surface warming by perturbing land-atmosphere energy exchanges, yet this biophysical control on warming seasonality is underexplored. By performing experiments with a coupled land-atmosphere model, here we show that summer greening effectively dampens NH warming by −0.15 ± 0.03 °C for 1982–2014 due to enhanced evapotranspiration. However, greening generates weak temperature changes in spring (+0.02 ± 0.06 °C) and autumn (−0.05 ± 0.05 °C), because the evaporative cooling is counterbalanced by radiative warming from albedo and water vapor feedbacks. The dwindling evaporative cooling towards cool seasons is also supported by state-of-the-art Earth system models. Moreover, greening-triggered energy imbalance is propagated forward by atmospheric circulation to subsequent seasons and causes sizable time-lagged climate effects. Overall, greening makes winter warmer and summer cooler, attenuating the seasonal amplitude of NH temperature. These findings demonstrate complex tradeoffs and linkages of vegetation-climate feedbacks among seasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu Lian & Sujong Jeong & Chang-Eui Park & Hao Xu & Laurent Z. X. Li & Tao Wang & Pierre Gentine & Josep Peñuelas & Shilong Piao, 2022. "Biophysical impacts of northern vegetation changes on seasonal warming patterns," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31671-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31671-z
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